The Place Where Worlds End
by Reese1
Summary: The epic saga of the world depicted in the classic episode WORLDS WITHOUT END. Cobra conquers the world, and the surviving Joes, driven underground, mount a final desperate resistance.
1. Desire

From across a distance of many miles, Zarana and Mainframe spoke to each other in secret. Their meetings were pre-arranged and agreed upon in advance. At the appointed day and time, Mainframe would find a computer with an internet connection and log on.  
  
He used the internet cafes scattered throughout the city, never using the same café twice in a row. You never knew when Cobra might be watching. It was best to be safe. Mainframe was sure that Zarana was doing the same thing, far away.  
  
Zarana: Hey there, I missed you.  
  
Mainframe: Did you have any problems?  
  
Zarana: You know they'll never find me unless I wanted them to.  
  
Mainframe: You mean your brother.  
  
Zarana: I see him sometimes, from far away, patrolling the streets. Him and his gang.  
  
Mainframe: Do you think he's still angry?  
  
Zarana: You know he'll never forgive me.  
  
* * *  
  
"Here, Zarana," Ripper said sadistically, "You do the honors."  
  
A short distance before them in the dark city alley, Dial Tone and Mainframe lay on the dank pavement. Mainframe looked around him, as if in a haze. He had been shot in his shoulder. Next to him, Dial Tone was writhing in agony, clutching his neck, trying to stop the blood from pouring out of the bullet wound.  
  
Buzzer knelt down by Dial Tone and said, "Thought you Joes could slip by us, could you? You just don't know when you're beaten, don't you? Can't you see we Cobras are running the show now? This is what happens to people who can't handle the reality of the situation. Ain't that right, Torch?"  
  
"Bet your ass that's right," Torch said.  
  
Zarana pulled out her pistol and aimed it at Mainframe's head. The two of them exchanged a meaningful look. Zarana's hand trembled as she tried to summon the will to fire on the man she had long had a soft spot for, ever since the day she had infiltrated the Joe headquarters and ended up falling for him.  
  
Go ahead, Mainframe's eyes told her. Don't feel bad. They'll kill you if you don't shoot. I couldn't let that happen. Go ahead and shoot.  
  
Lightning and thunder. Rain began to fall hard, drenching everyone.  
  
Ripper stood next to Zarana and breathed into her ear. Zarana could smell his malodorous breath, tinged with the scent of grape soda.  
  
"Do it," Ripper said.  
  
Zarana shut her eyes, and in that moment, her course of action was clear. The other three Dreadnoks were all standing around her and the two fallen Joes. In her mind, Zarana weighed the odds and made her move.  
  
In a flash, Zarana pistol-whipped Ripper in the face, as he stood next to her. Knocked senseless, Ripper crumpled to the pavement. Buzzer and Torch turned to Zarana in surprise, not sure of how they should react. After all, it wouldn't do to shoot their boss's sister. They brought up their weapons anyway, and Zarana, wresting Ripper's rifle free, swung it around toward Torch. The rifle's butt connected with Torch's head, knocking him out cold. With a mad cry, Buzzer threw down his chainsaw and dove at Zarana, tackling her to the ground. They wrestled in the rainy street, oblivious to the cold, the noise of the storm, and the two Joes lying helpless on the ground close by.  
  
"You rotten traitor!" Buzzer spat out. "If you weren't Zartan's sister, I'd cut your heart out."  
  
Buzzer was choking her. He had his full weight on her, and he was forcing her into submission. Zarana hazily perceived the street curb to their side. With all of her strength, Zarana rolled toward the curb, grabbed Buzzer, and slammed his head into the edge of the curb. She pulled out her knife and was about to cut his throat when she stopped herself.  
  
"I'm not going to be a killer anymore," Zarana said to herself as she returned her knife to its place.  
  
Dial Tone was dead. His eyes still open, he gazed out uncomprehendingly at the rain falling from above.  
  
Zarana closed Dial Tone's eyes and turned to Mainframe. Mainframe looked weakly at her and smiled.  
  
"I'll take care of you," Zarana said as she bent down to pick Mainframe. She carried him to safety.  
  
Later that night, Mainframe awoke to find himself lying in bed, in a motel room. He looked down at his wounded shoulder and saw that it had been bandaged up.  
  
Mainframe looked up and saw Zarana standing at the side of the bed. Her body was wrapped in a towel, and her hair was damp, as if she had just come out of the shower. Zarana's rain-soaked clothes were draped over a chair, next to Mainframe's clothes. With a start, Mainframe realized that he was naked beneath his blankets.  
  
"Sorry, I had to undress you. You were soaking wet," Zarana said. "I didn't peek while I was doing it. Honest."  
  
Mainframe gulped. This was a strange situation he found himself in. One moment, he was on the brink of death, and the next thing he knew, he was in a motel room alone with Zarana.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
"Out of it," Mainframe said. "But thank you."  
  
Zarana put a hand on Mainframe's forehead and stroked his cheek tenderly.  
  
"I couldn't do it, Mainframe. I couldn't hurt you."  
  
"Blaine."  
  
"What?"  
  
"My name is Blaine. Call me Blaine."  
  
Zarana smiled as Mainframe touched her hand and gently tugged her toward him. At that moment, something snapped, and they abandoned their restraint. Zarana climbed onto the bed, took Mainframe's face in her hands, and kissed him hungrily. They lost themselves in the moment. As Zarana straddled Mainframe on the bed, she felt his growing arousal through the bed sheets that separated them. The towel that was wrapped around her body began to loosen, and Mainframe's eyes widened as Zarana's body was slowly and tantalizingly revealed to him for the first time. The shape and size of her breasts, the smooth contour of her skin. The idea of this woman revealing herself to him drove Mainframe wild with desire. Ignoring the dull pain from his shoulder, Mainframe pulled Zarana closer to him. He enveloped himself with her warmth, her heat.  
  
* * *  
  
Mainframe: I think about you every day.  
  
Zarana: I think about how we made love. I want you to make love to me again. I wish we didn't have to be separated like this.  
  
Mainframe: Let's meet each other again. In person.  
  
Zarana: Are you sure?  
  
Mainframe: We have to find a way to be together again. Even if it means having to hide all the time. I can't live without you.  
  
Zarana: We'll find a way.  
  
Zarana quietly logged off her computer and stopped to pay the cashier. Exiting the internet café, Zarana adjusted the brown wig on her head and walked into the crowded streets. A giant television screen in the center of the city square flashed the face of Cobra Commander. Cobra Commander's slimy voice filled the air as he lectured the citizens in the civic virtues of Cobra.  
  
Zarana noticed Buzzer twenty yards away, leading away a man in handcuffs.  
  
"We'll teach you what happens when you break the law!" Buzzer cried with enthusiasm. He was dressed in the blue uniform of the Cobra police.  
  
Looking in Zarana's direction, Buzzer paused for a moment, and Zarana was afraid that she had been spotted. Buzzer shook his head and forgot about it, going about his business.  
  
Zarana walked past Buzzer and the Cobra policemen. She slipped away into the darkness, carrying her dreams and desires with her. 


	2. The Wedding Banquet

Raucous laughter filled the banquet room. The golden walls were draped with crimson curtains, while cobra torches carved from silver jutted out of the walls, lighting the hall with their fire.  
  
The men and women gathered together reveled in their excess and the fruits of their triumph. The enormous serving table held every delicacy and delectable food imaginable. On the steps of the stage at one end of the room, Cobra Commander tapped into a microphone and commanded everyone's attention.  
  
"My loyal servants," Cobra Commander intoned, "Today is a glorious day. It marks the one-year anniversary of our victory over G.I. JOE. The world is ours, free to rape and plunder and pillage. The democracies crumble before our march, one by one, powerless to resist our superior arms and the strength of our will."  
  
Everyone in the room, dressed in Cobra uniforms, raised their hands in salute and cheered their leader.  
  
"The instrument of our victory, as you know, is present here with us. Without him, surely we could not have overcome our most despised nemesis. Once he realized the virtue of the Cobra way, he came to his senses and joined our cause, most wholeheartedly. On the anniversary of our victory, we have double cause to celebrate. Dusty, will you and Lieutenant Demming come to the stage?"  
  
Wearing the blue uniforms of Cobra, Dusty and Demming marched to the stage and climbed its steps. Cobra Commander joined their hands together.  
  
"We celebrate the marriage of two of our own," Cobra Commander said, waxing sentimental. "Ah, the flowers of love have blossomed within the ranks of Cobra. Surely, their passion for each other can only be exceeded by their thirst for world domination. United, they will crush those few G.I. JOE who continue to carry on their pitiful resistance against us. I exhort you to go forth from this day, with renewed strength, to lead us to the promised land and a new generation of Cobra!"  
  
"Hail Dusty!" the Cobras in the room cried.  
  
"Hail Demming!"  
  
"Hail Cobra Commander!"  
  
"Hail Cobra! Cobra! Cobraaa!"  
  
Amidst these exultant cheers, Dusty, his face ashen and emotionless, looked upon his bride. She was a shapely blond woman with piercing blue eyes and full lips. Carol Demming looked back at Dusty, her eyes filled with a mixture of love and lust. Dusty looked again on those lips. He didn't care about anything anymore, not G.I. JOE, his family, or his country, nothing. Right now, all he wanted was to press those lips against his own. Abandoning restraint, Dusty blocked out Cobra Commander and the rest of the Cobra legions as he gave in to his desire and devoured Demming's mouth with his own.  
  
* * *  
  
A trail of clothing led from the door to the queen sized bed of the private chamber. A pair of wall lamps hung from the Cobra sculptures adorning the wall at the head of the bed, throwing the shadows of the two newlyweds into sharp relief. The flickering lamp light gave a dull glow to the room as Dusty and Demming drank in one another. Driven by his lust and passion, Dusty explored Demming's entire body, tasting her, drinking in her curves. Demming could only lie on the bed trembling from Dusty's touch, electricity and excitement running through her like it never had before. As their bodies joined together as one, they held each other tightly, their arms and legs intertwined, pressed against each other as if for dear life. Their joined cries of pleasure echoed throughout the bed chamber.  
  
* * *  
  
The explosion rocked the oil rig, engulfing Duke in flames as he tumbled off the rig into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Shipwreck and Deep Six, alarmed, dove and grabbed Duke as he sank into the depths.  
  
Moments later, the Joes had managed to drag Duke into a SHARC and fly him to the G.I. JOE transportable platform. Several of the other Joes, including Scarlett, Flint, Spirit, and Gung-Ho, ran out to meet Shipwreck and Deep Six as they lay Duke on a stretcher.  
  
"You got him!" Flint cried, joyous.  
  
Everyone's mood turned somber when they saw Duke's condition. He was badly burned, and he wasn't breathing.  
  
Shipwreck got on his knees and listened for Duke's breaths.  
  
"Come on, Duke, breathe!" Shipwreck cried as he began delivering mouth-to- mouth resuscitation, while Flint prepared to deliver chest compressions.  
  
After some time, Shipwreck and Flint looked at each other. There was no response from Duke.  
  
"No," Scarlett said sadly as she knelt at Duke's side. Shipwreck put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry, Scarlett. I know you two were real close."  
  
"No," Scarlett repeated, tears running down her cheek as she rested her head against Duke's chest. "Come back. Please come back."  
  
"This was a setup," Flint said. "Someone tipped off Cobra to this operation."  
  
And I know who that someone is, Flint thought to himself.  
  
* * *  
  
"Remember when we first met?" Demming said to Dusty as they lay together, quietly in bed, the searing flame of their lovemaking having calmed down a bit.  
  
"Yes," Dusty said calmly.  
  
"You were so cocky. You wanted to prove yourself to Cobra. And I knew that you were everything you claimed to be. I knew there was nothing you couldn't do. But when you saw me for the first time, you trembled. It was as if you'd regressed to a thirteen-year old, afraid to come near me, but unable to tear your eyes from me. And that's when I knew that I wanted you."  
  
"You're so beautiful," Dusty said.  
  
Carol Demming turned to gaze into Dusty's eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck, drawing him nearer to her.  
  
"I love you," Demming said tenderly, drawing Dusty into a deep, languorous kiss.  
  
Demming began to grow sleepy as she rested her head on Dusty's shoulder and draped an arm across his bare chest.  
  
Dusty, remaining awake, stared up at the mirrors on the ceiling. He saw himself and Demming lying in each other's arms in bed. His beautiful wife. His beautiful Cobra wife. Dusty instinctively knew he would never be able to separate Demming from her identity as a Cobra agent. He thought of the many friends whose deaths he had caused. He thought about the people he had betrayed. It had all started so innocently. But then Duke had been killed; that hadn't been part of the plan. Soon, he had been entrapped in Cobra's snare, until the day came when he had lost everything and everyone dear to him. Now he lived a life bereft of honor and decency. He was a terrorist, not by choice, but by design.  
  
And this woman-the one woman who ignited his sexual passion as no other woman ever had. Was it such a bad life, after all, having such a sexy wife to come to bed with, after a long hard day of world conquest? She had such a hot body, and she was incredibly sweet to him. She adored him, she was completely devoted to him. It was strange to Dusty that he could call such a woman his very own. So this is what it meant to have someone to share your life with, someone to call your own. Perhaps some day they would have children and start a family of their own. A family of Cobras with the world at their feet. Was that really so bad?  
  
Perhaps, Dusty decided as he observed the flush of contentment on his sleeping wife's cheeks, some things were meant to be.  
  
As Dusty contemplated these things, he saw the man he had become, staring back down at him, and a tear rolled down his face. 


	3. The Dreamer

Like an ugly weed, the grotesque fortress rose up about five miles downtown. In the darkness of the small midtown Manhattan apartment room, Shipwreck held back the curtain a little way and beheld one of the many enduring symbols of Cobra's domination. These fortresses existed in cities all over North America. Periodically, FANG choppers flew across the city, engaging in routine patrols, while Cobra agents prowled the city streets below.  
  
In the city that never slept, Shipwreck wondered how all those people in the streets and highways below him could go about their business. If it weren't for all the Cobra forces hanging around the city, you would never know that this was a conquered land. There was always a period of "adjustment." Then people could grow used to anything-- even being ruled by a ruthless terrorist organization.  
  
Shipwreck looked at his watch. It was midnight.  
  
From a height of roughly fifteen stories, Shipwreck gazed at the FDR Freeway beneath him, running along the East River. He watched the tiny cars pass by on the freeway, one by one. So many cars. So many people going in and out of his life. Strangers he had never met entered his field of vision, and for a moment in time, they were connected. He, Shipwreck, was tied for a moment in time with an anonymous stranger. He wondered where each person was going. That tiny car passing by him on the freeway-- did its driver have a home and family to return to? Did the driver have a meaningful life? Did the driver have a special someone? A loved one?  
  
* * *  
  
When Cover Girl sat on the stone wall, facing the sun as it rose over the ocean, she looked like she had been born for this moment. She looked as if she belonged in a painting immortalized as one of the great works of beauty. She was the epitome of beauty, soft and womanly, with a fierce fire in her eyes.  
  
"When I was ten, I used to live next to a girl who was my best friend," Cover Girl said. "We used to go to the lake in the summer and play. We'd jump in the water and do the backstroke like we hadn't a care in the world."  
  
"And then what?" Shipwreck asked Cover Girl.  
  
"She moved away," Cover Girl said sadly. "We tried to keep up the whole friendship thing, writing letters to each other, but it just sort of fell off. Sometimes, I wonder where she is now."  
  
Shipwreck nodded as he watched the sun rise.  
  
"Coming here to the beach reminds me of her," Cover Girl said. "It reminds of me the time when I used to play with my friend at the lake, and we were ten."  
  
"All my life," Shipwreck said, "When I used to look out at the ocean, I used to wonder."  
  
"Wonder about what?"  
  
"People," Shipwreck said. "People out there, on the other side of the ocean. I always thought, there's a whole world out there, right in front of my own eyes. I could see it, Cover Girl. I could taste it. So many people out there in the world. What are they all doing? What's going on in that big world out there? All my life, I wondered about stuff like that, you know?"  
  
For a moment, an image of a woman appeared in Shipwreck's mind. It was the image of a woman named Mara. Mara the mermaid. She was swimming away from him in the moonlight, out of his life, and he would never see her again.  
  
(Shipwreck, what happened? Was there something important in that house?)  
  
Lady Jaye's words echoed in Shipwreck's mind.  
  
(Nah, nothing important. Just a dream or two.)  
  
Shipwreck shook his head. It was a long time ago. It had been years since he had last seen Mara. But here, sitting next to him on the beach wall, was a woman he had grown in friendship with. They teased and mocked each other constantly, but deep down, Shipwreck knew he had feelings for her.  
  
"You said you wanted to see me," Cover Girl said. "Was there anything specific you wanted to talk about? Not that I mind waking up early to watch the sunrise with you, Shipwreck, but this is precious Saturday morning sleep time you're stealing from me."  
  
Shipwreck looked away from Cover Girl and trembled. He closed his eyes and tried to summon his inner strength. He wanted so much to hold her in his arms, to love her. If only he could find the words.  
  
"I just wanted to say," Shipwreck fumbled along, "that I like you."  
  
The two friends stared at each other. Cover Girl fidgeted, looking a little uncomfortable at the suddenness of the confession.  
  
"I know," Cover Girl said softly. "I've always known."  
  
"I know it seems awkward and weird, but I had to tell you," Shipwreck said. "I've always thought of you as my amazing and beautiful friend."  
  
But even before those words had come out of Shipwreck's mouth, he knew that it was of no use. He knew by the look in her eye. It was a look of hurt, the way a person is hurt to disappoint someone whom she likes, someone whose friendship she values.  
  
"I don't feel the same way," Cover Girl said. "I'm sorry."  
  
Shipwreck sighed as he watched the light dance over the rippling surface of the blue waters.  
  
Cover Girl got up and stepped off the beach wall. She stood a few feet behind Shipwreck.  
  
"I wish I knew what inspired you," Shipwreck said.  
  
"Me too," Cover Girl said as she bade Shipwreck goodbye, leaving the sailor to ponder the sunrise alone, accompanied by no one but the ghosts of his own dreams.  
  
* * *  
  
"Hello? Earth to Shipwreck?"  
  
Lady Jaye's voice jolted Shipwreck out of his daydream. Blinking his eyes, Shipwreck remembered where he was. He was no longer on a beach with Cover Girl. Instead he was sitting in an AWE Striker with Lady Jaye, stuck in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Behind them was the other AWE Striker, driven by Steeler and Cover Girl. Shipwreck tried to avoid looking at Cover Girl. The memory of the daydream was still fresh in his head, and seeing Cover Girl would only worsen matters.  
  
"Is something the matter?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You're not your usual self," Lady Jaye said.  
  
"My usual self? How am I not my usual self?"  
  
"You know, loud and annoying? Always giving me a hard time?"  
  
"Guess I'm not in the mood," Shipwreck mumbled.  
  
"You seem so sad. Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
For a moment, Shipwreck looked seriously into Lady Jaye's eyes and considered telling her everything. About how he fell in love with a mermaid named Mara and had lost her. About how, over the years since, he had grown to like and even love the one they called Cover Girl, and how Cover Girl had broken his heart. About how he spent endless nights alone in bed, thinking about his life, the mistakes he had made along the way, all the ways he could have done things differently, and wondering what he could do to change his life. Wondering if he would be a lonely sailor all his life.  
  
Before Shipwreck could open his mouth and tell Lady Jaye that there was, in fact, nothing wrong with him, a shout rose up behind him.  
  
"Incoming missiles!" Steeler cried.  
  
The attention of the four Joes and everyone on the bridge was turned to the barrage of missiles, which came in out of nowhere. One missile exploded a short distance in front of the two AWE Strikers, sending several cars and their helpless occupants up in a massive fireball. Three missiles collided with the bridge towers, sending fiery debris to the suspended road below. Four other missiles hit scattered points on the bridge, further down the road from the Joes' position.  
  
The scene devolved into sheer pandemonium after that. Panicked citizens got out of their cars and took off running. Meanwhile two Cobra Rattlers appeared in the distance.  
  
"Two Rattlers at 2:00 high!" Cover Girl called out.  
  
The enemy planes only now appeared to become aware of the presence of G.I. JOE on the scene, and they swooped in lower for the kill. Both Rattlers rapidly closed in on the bridge and opened fire on the AWE Strikers with their Gatling guns.  
  
All four of the Joes hit the deck, scrambling out of their vehicles to find cover from the rain of bullets. Lady Jaye grunted as a bullet hit her in the arm.  
  
"Lady Jaye!" Shipwreck cried.  
  
"It's nothing!" Lady Jaye shouted back as the Rattlers passed overhead with a thunderous roar.  
  
"Steeler! Cover Girl!" Lady Jaye shouted, trying to ascertain the status of the rest of her team.  
  
"We're returning fire now!" Cover Girl shouted as she and Steeler hopped back into their AWE Striker and fired their cannon at the Rattler as it passed over them.  
  
One of the Rattlers caught fire on its wing engine. The engine burst into flames and the exultant Joes watched it tailspin into the waters of the bay.  
  
"We got one of them sons of bitches!" Steeler cried.  
  
"Don't get cocky, there's still one left, and it's coming back for more," Shipwreck said.  
  
"Incoming!" Cover Girl said.  
  
The Rattler came in low, at full throttle, guns blazing. With bullets ripping through cars, bridge cables, and people all around him, Shipwreck found himself separated from the other three Joes. He was near the edge of the bridge. With machine gun rounds being fired straight at his direction, Shipwreck saw no other escape. He tumbled backward off the bridge and dove down to the cold waters below, praying to God that he would survive the fall.  
  
Shipwreck landed in the water with a crash and came up gasping. The coldness of the water seemed to suck all the air right out of his lungs.  
  
"Shipwreck!"  
  
Shipwreck heard the voice of Cover Girl, calling out to him from the bridge. He saw her at the edge of the bridge, searching desperately for him, anxious to know that he was all right. For a brief moment it seemed to him that their eyes met. Shipwreck tried to call out to her but she was so very far away. The icy currents were so fast. They carried him away from the bridge.  
  
* * *  
  
In the darkness of his room, Shipwreck relived that fateful day on the Golden Gate Bridge. It had been a year now since the day of that attack. One year since his whole world had been turned upside down. Since then, he had wandered across the country alone, in search of his friends, and finding no one. The horrifying thought occurred to him. Was he the last surviving Joe? It was impossible.  
  
The pieces of the puzzle were out there, just waiting to be put into place. Cobra was in charge. Somewhere out there, Cobra Commander and Destro were plotting new ways to oppress the innocent. Wherever they were, that no- good, stinking traitor Dusty could not be far away. But right now he could care less about them. Only one person mattered to Shipwreck right now.  
  
So many people, out there living their lives. So many people busy going places and doing their business. And somewhere, out there in this crazy world, Cover Girl was alive and well. Perhaps she was with friends. And maybe, just maybe, in the dead of the night, when the cold winter air enveloped the land like a blanket, when the city lights flickered and danced in the silent puddles on every rain-drenched street corner, and lovers found warmth and comfort in the arms of one another-  
  
Maybe she was thinking of him too.  
  
Was that too much to hope for? 


	4. Point of No Return

Everywhere Flint looked, his escape was cut off. He, Gung-Ho, Blowtorch, Barbeque, Roadblock, Flash, Zap, and ten greenshirt Joes found themselves in large crater. Cobra had attacked a chemical factory in pursuit of the last ingredient of their mind control gas, and they had captured the crucial ingredient. In the course of chasing the Cobra forces led by Dusty, Flint and his men had run themselves into this pit, and now they stood facing a large squad of Cobra forces standing above them. The Cobra soldiers only awaited the order to shoot, which they were all too happy to do.  
  
Flint swallowed. The blood seemed to drain out of his face. He had never been caught in a situation like this before.  
  
Think, Flint, think. How are you going to get out of this one?  
  
Elsewhere, the sounds of explosions and gunfire raged all around. But this lone spot was an area of calm amidst the sea of violence.  
  
Dusty, dressed in Cobra officer garb, stood front and center at the top of the embankment. He aimed his rifle at Flint.  
  
"You're surrounded and out-gunned, Flint," Dusty said. "Throw down your weapons and surrender."  
  
"What if we don't?" Flint said defiantly. "What are you going to do then? You're going to kill us all?"  
  
"I will if I have to. I'll shoot every last one of you with no qualms," Dusty declared. But there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.  
  
"Come on, let's waste these little punks," a Cobra trooper said, his finger itchy on the trigger.  
  
"Yeah, kill 'em all," another trooper said.  
  
"No one shoots anyone without my order!" Dusty shouted, asserting his authority.  
  
Lieutenant Carol Demming, second in command of the Cobra group under Dusty, stepped up next to the man she loved with a blind, insensate passion. She put a hand on his arm.  
  
"Are you afraid to shoot your own brothers?" Demming said.  
  
Dusty heard her voice and watched her lips move through the black Cobra face mask, and he trembled. What was this strange power that this woman held over him?  
  
"I'm not afraid of anything," Dusty said. But he still sounded unsure.  
  
"Flint, I don't like this," Roadblock whispered as he stood next to Flint.  
  
Flint held up his hands. He and his men faced certain death. There was only one option left to him, and it went against every instinct in his body.  
  
"Everyone calm down. We surrender. You hear that? We surrender. All Joes, stand down. That's an order."  
  
No sooner had all the Joes thrown down their weapons, when an impatient Cobra trooper let loose a single shot, felling Gung-Ho and setting off an orgy of violence. All of the Cobra troopers opened fire on the helpless Joes at once, while the Joes scrambled to grab their weapons and find what paltry cover their AWE Strikers offered in their position of fatal vulnerability. Men shrieked in agony as they fell. Roadblock charged forward and uphill to confront the enemy, determined to take down a few of the Cobras with him. He shot two of them before he was finally dropped dead. A bullet struck Flint in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him to the ground. Lying sideways on the ground, Flint helplessly watched as one by one, his friends were cut down. The scene seemed to lose all sound to Flint. It was like watching a silent movie.  
  
At this moment, Flint was convinced he would die. His thoughts turned to Lady Jaye. He wondered what had happened to her in San Francisco. The news of an attack on the Golden Gate Bridge had just broken when Cobra had launched this new attack, thousands of miles away.  
  
Please, Flint screamed in his mind. If I could only live to see her again. I would hold on to her and never let her out of my sight, ever again. I would love her forever. I love you, Lady Jaye. I love you until my last breath.  
  
From above, Dusty hollered in vain for the Cobras to hold their fire. He saw Demming standing next to him. She turned and looked at him and stopped shooting. Dusty saw the quizzical expression in her eyes, asking him if his heart was in it. Are you really one of us, her eyes asked him. To that Dusty could make no reply, and he stared helplessly as the rest of the Cobra troopers continued their orgy of killing.  
  
A grenade sent the bloodied bodies of Zap and Barbeque flying through the air, landing at the edge of the crater. With that punctuation, the shooting stopped. The bloodthirsty Cobras were finally satisfied, for now, and Dusty walked into the crater to finish off anyone who was still left alive.  
  
Passing by one bloody body after another, Dusty came to the body of Flint and turned him onto his back. He was still alive, but gasping for air. Apparently he had been shot in one of his lungs.  
  
"Dusty, we have to get out of here now. Finish him off and let's get moving!" Demming called out to him from above.  
  
Dusty reluctantly drew his pistol and aimed it point blank, at Flint's head. Flint's eyes gazed at him with accusation. He would never understand, Dusty realized. He would never understand I was never really a traitor. No one would have believed me after Duke was killed; he was the only one who knew. And now this. Now I have blood on my hands. So this is the point of no return. Everyone will know that I was here, commanding a force of Cobras that massacred an entire squad of defenseless Joes. They will all think that it was all true, that I really was a traitor. But it's simply not true. My mission was to penetrate Cobra at all costs.  
  
Deep within, Dusty knew that he was hiding from the obvious. No rationalization could justify the way he stood by and allowed his friends to be killed. No, Dusty was a coward. A no good, rotten coward.  
  
He had truly become one of them. One of Cobra.  
  
Flint's lips mouthed the word, "why?"  
  
If only I could make him understand, Dusty thought.  
  
"I'm sorry, Flint, I never meant for any of this to happen. Please believe me," Dusty said softly.  
  
Dusty deliberately shifted his aim off to the side and fired one shot.  
  
* * *  
  
Flint opened his eyes wide and sat upright in bed. Next to him, Lady Jaye was aroused and awakened.  
  
"Dash, what's wrong? Are you having that dream again?"  
  
"Yes, Ally," Flint said calmly, lying down again and putting an arm around Lady Jaye as they lay together in a bed, in an abandoned hotel, alone in Philadelphia.  
  
That's all it was, just a dream. A dream of things that had happened not so long ago, but which seemed separated from the present by the gulf of eternity.  
  
He rubbed his hand over his right temple. The scar would always remain from the pistol shot that should have killed him. He should have died with his friends, but he was the lone survivor. It should have ended there in that dirty, blood-stained crater, but it didn't. Did Dusty spare him out of guilt, or mercy, or something else that Flint could not imagine?  
  
And as a sleepless Flint stared at the ceiling fan, its blades silently rotating above him, he mouthed a single word.  
  
Why? 


	5. Calm Before the Storm

ONE YEAR AGO - WASHINGTON, DC  
  
Lady Jaye held up her hand to shield her eyes as the Tomohawk chopper hovered above the ground, a dark silhouette against the setting sun. The chopper bearing Flint and other wounded Joes touched down on the landing area, and Lady Jaye, scarcely able to restrain herself, ran forward. A sharp stab of pain jolted through her left arm, and she shut her eyes, ignoring the pain, and silently reminding herself that she would need another dose of painkillers. It had only been a few days since she had received that wound on the Golden Gate Bridge.  
  
Snake Eyes and Scarlett emerged first, carrying Flint on a stretcher. His chest was bandaged and so was his right forehead. Behind them, Alpine helped a limping, bruised, and bloodied Bazooka off the chopper. Other wounded Joes deported the chopper for the field hospital run by Lifeline and Doc.  
  
"Flint!" Lady Jaye cried, running to meet Snake Eyes and Scarlett. Snake Eyes and Scarlett paid little mind to Lady Jaye as she walked in stride with them and placed a hand on Flint's chest. Flint looked quietly at her and took her hand in his own, squeezing it gently.  
  
When the wounded and dying Joes had all been placed in beds in the makeshift hospital building, Lady Jaye and Flint could finally share a moment alone together.  
  
Elsewhere on the floor, the scene was one of chaotic activity as the medical personnel struggled to save the lives of the many Joes who had been seriously wounded in battles all over the country. Lady Jaye tried as best she could to shut all that out of her head and give her attention to Flint alone.  
  
"He had me, Lady Jaye," Flint said slowly and with labored breaths.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Dusty."  
  
"You saw him?"  
  
"He couldn't finish me off. Something stopped him. I don't understand."  
  
Flint coughed.  
  
Lady Jaye shook her head.  
  
"Don't talk about that right now," she said, fighting tears. "We're together now. That's all that matters. You'll be fine, you'll see."  
  
"I thought I would never see you again," Flint said. "And the thought of that was worse than dying."  
  
"When I heard what happened to you, I was so afraid I'd lose you," Lady Jaye said.  
  
"Ally," Flint said after a pause. Lady Jaye's ears perked up at the use of her real name. Flint only addressed her as Ally in their most intimate moments.  
  
"Will you marry me?" Flint said.  
  
Lady Jaye stared, wide eyed, at her companion, her best friend, her lover. He cut an absurd figure, all bandaged up and looking like hell, asking her to marry him, like they didn't have more important things to think about, like surviving to tomorrow. She thought of cracking a joke at that moment, but her heart told her otherwise.  
  
Leaning in to kiss him, Lady Jaye whispered, "It's a hell of a time to be asking me something like that, Dash."  
  
Flint smiled. "Does that mean yes?"  
  
Lady Jaye squeezed his hand, and they remained together like that for a long time.  
  
* * *  
  
Later that evening, every remaining member of G.I. JOE gathered together in a small auditorium for a briefing by General Hawk. Scarlett looked around her and noticed that many of the most prominent faces on the team were absent. Duke, Roadblock, Gung-Ho, Zap, Flash, Footloose, Barbeque, Blowtorch, Rip Cord, Spirit, and Sergeant Slaughter were all killed. Shipwreck, last seen hurtling into the bay off the Golden Gate Bridge, was missing, but presumed dead. Scarlett noticed Cover Girl sitting alone at the end of the row, lost in her own thoughts. She knew that Shipwreck had always carried a torch for Cover Girl, and she wondered how much Cover Girl had really cared for him.  
  
Maybe we'll never know, Scarlett thought to herself. At that moment, the image of Duke came to her mind, and she tried her best to shut it out. It had been several weeks now since Duke's death, but the sting had not gone away one bit.  
  
Hawk called for everyone's attention.  
  
A map of the United States, projected onto a large screen, flashed into view at the head of the room, where Hawk paced back and forth.  
  
"Men and women of G.I. JOE," Hawk said, "this is all very difficult for me to say. We've lost many of our best soldiers. Ever since the defection of Dusty two months ago, the tide has turned against us. Somehow, Cobra has developed a series of powerful weapons against us. The mind control gas was only the beginning. Mainframe and Dial Tone have discovered that Cobra has succeeded in constructing at least three Weather Dominators in secret locations around the country."  
  
Red "x's" marked various positions on the map, each representing a clash with Cobra, most of which had resulted in defeat for G.I. JOE. San Francisco, Chicago, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta. Many of the major cities in the United States. A significant number of national landmarks targeted for symbolic effect.  
  
"We're stretched thin now, suffering defeats on all fronts," Hawk continued. "Our nation's regular army has only been of limited effectiveness against Cobra's forces. We are our country's last, best hope. I've assembled all remaining active Joes together here to defend the nation's capital, at all costs."  
  
* * *  
  
Cobra was aware of G.I. JOE's movements. Hawk hoped that, by building up his forces in Washington, DC, he could draw Cobra into a direct confrontation, out in the open. The cards were on the table now. There would be war. A war to decide the destiny of the entire world. In this war, many more Joes would likely die. Anyone who did not want to take part in this action could stay back.  
  
Of course, every last Joe in the room volunteered to fight to the end.  
  
They were all afraid. Afraid to die, but even more afraid to let their friends down in this dark hour.  
  
Scarlett shook her head as she sat alone on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and watched rain fall over the city. She slowly drank a cup of hot chocolate as the thousands of drops fell onto the long reflecting pool, where, at the other end, the Washington Monument stood, proud and untarnished. The rain fell with greater intensity now, and the cold deepened. Scarlett shuddered as she zipped her winter coat closed. Lightning violently flashed across the night sky, followed by a furious boom of thunder.  
  
Footsteps approaching from her left side.  
  
"Hello, Snake Eyes," Scarlett said.  
  
The two friends sat on the top step of the memorial, in the shadow of the sixteenth president of the United States.  
  
"The weather's turned to hell all of a sudden," Scarlett finally said after a long silence. "Coincidence?"  
  
Snake Eyes shook his head.  
  
"Yeah, I didn't think so, either," Scarlett said. "It's starting, isn't it?"  
  
"How do you feel?" Snake Eyes signed to her.  
  
Scarlett looked out over the reflecting pool sadly.  
  
"I never thought it would come to this," she said. "Things change. People change. Friends come in and out of your life. It feels like everyone I care about is being torn from me, one by one."  
  
Scarlett turned to look at Snake Eyes. He was quietly devoted to her, a loyal and courageous friend. It seemed to her that she had never expressed to him her appreciation for everything he had done, after all these years.  
  
"I just want to say thank you," Scarlett said to Snake Eyes. "Thanks for being there for me. I just want to make sure I told you that I appreciated you, because we might not be alive after tomorrow. I never-I never even got to tell-"  
  
I never even got to tell Duke how much I cared for him.  
  
Scarlett left those last words unspoken. They both turned to gaze out at the stormy night. After a long time, Snake Eyes turned to leave.  
  
"It's time to return," Snake Eyes signed to her. He held out his hand to help Scarlett up. Scarlett took the hand that Snake Eyes offered to her, and together, the two Joes headed back to rejoin their friends. 


	6. The Last Great Battleground

ONE YEAR AGO - WASHINGTON, DC  
  
From the northeast, a large squadron of Rattlers hurtled through the sky, headed for a rendezvous with G.I. JOE over the nation's capital. With single-minded purpose, the Cobra planes converged on Washington to take up Hawk's brazen challenge.  
  
Inside the Joes' hastily set-up command center, Dial Tone and Mainframe monitored the events on long range radar. All of the Joes who occupied positions of authority within the team nervously stood near by, observing the events as they unfolded. Hawk, Beach Head, Scarlett, and Lady Jaye stood silently behind Mainframe and Dial Tone.  
  
"We got bogeys coming in from the northeast," Dial Tone said.  
  
"So it begins," Hawk mused. Pacing back and forth in thought, Hawk considered his war plan. Under Hawk's orders, squads of Joes along with several US Army special forces units had been positioned in strategic locations around The Mall in Washington, DC. Cobra had yet to strike at the nation's most famous landmarks, and they were certain to do so, now more than ever. The heart of American history would become America's last great battleground. Thinking of the terrible destruction and deaths this war would bring, Hawk wondered if he was making a terrible mistake. But now is not the time for doubts, he steeled himself.  
  
"Scarlett," Hawk called out, "I want you and Ace to mobilize a fleet of Sky Strikers immediately. You must intercept the enemy before it reaches Washington airspace."  
  
"Understood, sir," Scarlett saluted, turning to leave. Hawk stopped her for a last word.  
  
"You all know the plan. If something should happen, if we should be defeated, you must carry on the fight against Cobra, wherever you are, no matter how great the odds. It matters not if only one of us should survive this day. This is our duty. Do not forget that, G.I. JOE."  
  
Scarlett put on a brave countenance for her teammates, but in her heart, she was deeply troubled.  
  
* * *  
  
"50 miles out," Scarlett noted to Ace as they flew their Sky Strikers to intercept. A total of six Sky Strikers had flown out to meet the enemy head on.  
  
The storm had not abated one bit. Scarlett could hardly make out anything in the rainy night sky. Her field of vision was illuminated only by brief flashes of lightning.  
  
"I don't get it," Slipstream said, "Cobra sure picked a lousy time to start an attack. Can hardly see a damn thing."  
  
"Coming up on visual," Ace said to everyone in the fighter group. "We've got seven Cobra Rattlers. Break formation and engage!"  
  
Thus, the fighter planes commenced their dance of death in the stormy night skies, the Joe pilots unaware of another fleet of Rattlers secretly approaching, thousands of feet below. Flying low to the ground so as to avoid radar detection, the Rattlers rapidly approached the capital. While the other fleet of Rattlers fought furiously with the Sky Strikers at high altitudes, the second group had penetrated the first line of defense. Suddenly, as if the Rattlers had reached their hidden mark, they gained altitude and launched all of their missiles at the entire Washington, DC area.  
  
At a street barricade erected outside the White House, on Constitution Street, General Hawk listened to Mainframe's report with growing alarm and dismay. A second fleet of Rattlers! What was the purpose of the first fleet, the decoy? Every missile defense system available within the perimeter came online and emptied out their armamentarium of anti- projectile missiles, but as Hawk observed through binoculars some of the missiles exploding in the air above the perimeter, he noticed an unusual pink tinge to the explosions. What was the meaning of this?  
  
With a sudden painful realization, the answer became immediately obvious. Cobra's mind control gas! Hawk grabbed his radio and opened a line to all units.  
  
"It's gas! Get your masks on at once!"  
  
Within minutes, the enormous cloud of mind control gas would blanket the entire city.  
  
"Mainframe," Hawk said, "report on the Sky Striker intercept fleet."  
  
"It's bad, Hawk," Mainframe informed him, "no one's left except for Ace and Scarlett. Everyone else, including Slipstream, has been shot down."  
  
"Get them out of there!" Hawk shouted into his radio.  
  
* * *  
  
With Ace flying at her side, Scarlett streaked back toward the city's main defenses.  
  
"Everyone's broken off pursuit except for two," Ace remarked, keeping one eye on the radar and the other on his cockpit field.  
  
"Wait, they're peeling off-"  
  
Ace never got to finish his sentence. A tremendous bolt of lightning struck Ace's Sky Striker right on the cockpit.  
  
"ACE!" Scarlett brought her plane into a hard turn to the right, seeking to avoid Ace's stricken plane as it tumbled in her direction and spiraled downward, its cockpit the epicenter of an anguished flame.  
  
Somehow, in the heat of the moment, Scarlett perceived another burst of lightning, this one striking her plane as well. It was the Weather Dominator, Scarlett surmised. It had to be. The second bolt of lightning hit her left wing, and with that, Scarlett knew that she would never regain control of the plane. She did not hesitate for a second to yank the ejection lever.  
  
* * *  
  
The Sky Strikers were close enough to the main perimeter that everyone on ground level was able to witness the horrifying death of Ace and the subsequent hit that had resulted in Scarlett parachuting from her plane. A series of flares sent up by Scarlett marked her position. Standing next to Hawk, Snake Eyes and Cover Girl both turned to their commander and indicated their desire to go out and retrieve her. She was about 5 miles out, northwest along the Potomac.  
  
"Find her and bring her back," Hawk assented. Cover Girl and Snake Eyes hopped into an AWE Striker and sped away into the streets.  
  
* * *  
  
Two blocks northeast of Hawk's position near the White House, Low Light and Rock 'N Roll stood guard at the roadblock, dressed in dark, heavy ponchos due to the pelting rain, which seemed to grow in intensity. Their breaths came heavily in their gas masks. The oppressive silence along the perimeter was finally broken when Low Light spotted movement dead ahead.  
  
"Who?" Rock 'N Roll said, peering out through his binoculars.  
  
"Unknown. wait, those are civilians," Low Light said.  
  
He paused for a moment. The mob was steadily approaching from a distance of three blocks.  
  
"Tons of them," Low Light said. He noted the plethora of guns, knives, baseball bats, crowbars and other assorted weapons. "They're armed."  
  
"Hawk," Rock 'N Roll reported by radio, "we've got a serious problem here. A large crowd of armed, hostile civilians is approaching the perimeter."  
  
"I'm getting reports like that from all over the perimeter," Hawk answered. "It must be the effects of Cobra's mind control gas."  
  
"Your orders?"  
  
"Crowd control tactics. Tear gas grenades."  
  
"And if that doesn't work?"  
  
There was silence from the other end.  
  
"Stop them by any means necessary," Hawk ordered grimly.  
  
Rock 'N Roll turned to Low Light and the three other green shirt Joes who were manning their position.  
  
"Launch tear gas grenades on my order."  
  
Everyone equipped his grenade launchers with tear gas projectiles.  
  
Rock 'N Roll addressed the approaching crowd through a loudspeaker.  
  
"Attention! This is the United States Army. You are ordered to halt and throw down your weapons immediately or we will shoot!"  
  
The mob had closed to within two blocks and now broke into a run, screaming and hollering as it did so.  
  
"FIRE!" Rock 'N Roll cried.  
  
Five tear gas grenades met the attackers, leaving long streams of white gas in their wake. Within seconds, the mob was blanketed in a cloud of irritating smoke. A large number of the mob managed to break through and continue their advance. They were only one block away now and closing.  
  
"Drop them!" Rock 'N Roll shouted.  
  
He hardly needed to encourage his teammates as they opened up a withering rain of suppressing fire. While Rock 'N Roll smothered the enemies with his rapid fire machine gun, Low Light picked off the enemy one by one with shots to the legs. Some of the attacking mob returned fire, catching one of the green shirt Joes in the head, killing him.  
  
Rock 'N Roll was incredulous. There always seemed to be more. Was the whole city against them?  
  
"There's too many of them!" he shouted. "Pull back and regroup!"  
  
A shout of "COBRA!" from above made Rock 'N Roll and Low Light momentarily direct their attention to the skies. Cobra paratroopers and flight pods, hundreds of them, all descending upon The Mall, ready to join the fight!  
  
Low Light took a few steps backwards as he watched the mob overrun the roadblock and mercilessly kill the two other green shirt Joes. Rock 'N Roll, steadily backed off as he continued to pour lead into the attackers. He had long ceased to care whether he killed the attackers or not.  
  
"Rock 'N Roll, move your ass!" Low Light screamed amidst the chaos.  
  
Rock 'N Roll realized with dismay that he was out of ammunition. He threw his machine gun at the crowd and pulled out his pistol. The mob of civilians was like a flood, overwhelming everything and everyone in its path. Under the control of Cobra's mind control gas, the mob continued advancing in spite of enormous losses.  
  
"Hawk, we are being overrun. We are being overrun. Do you copy?" Low Light reported.  
  
There was no response on the radio, nothing but static.  
  
"Hawk, please respond!"  
  
Low Light got no response. He turned and saw Rock 'N Roll, firing the last shots of his pistol, twenty yards away, with the mob already upon him and ready to rip him to pieces. There was nothing Low Light could do. If he stayed to help, he would be killed too. Slinging his sniper scope rifle over his shoulder, he turned to run in the other direction but saw two Cobra troopers standing at the street corner. The Cobras opened fire on him, and Low Light barely managed to escape by diving to his left.  
  
"Shit!" he hissed as he realized he was completely cut off. Within seconds, he would be killed, either by the mob or by the Cobra troopers on the other end of the street. Across the street from him, Low Light saw an open manhole. A small section of the street had been coned off for maintenance work before the army had taken over the city. It was his last chance. Throwing his last grenades at both the mob and the Cobra troopers, Low Light scrambled across the street and dove for the open manhole.  
  
Low Light hurriedly climbed down the ladder into the city's sewer and jumped onto the lower level, just as a Cobra trooper stuck his gun in and fired blindly, hoping to get him. The bullets all missed. The trooper then foolishly stuck his upper body into the manhole, searching for Low Light with a flashlight next to his rifle. At the very moment the flashlight found Low Light, a poised and positioned Low Light fired one shot from his pistol, putting a bullet into the Cobra's head.  
  
Low Light was plunged into absolute darkness. The battle raged above him. Things seemed to be going very badly for G.I. JOE now that the perimeter appeared to have been broken. For all intents and purposes, the battle had ended for Low Light. It was left to him to try to find another way out of this dark, dank sewer.  
  
What's the matter, boy? You afraid of the dark?  
  
The voice of Low Light's father echoed in his head.  
  
"No, dad," Low Light said with a smile. "I love the darkness."  
  
* * *  
  
Seven Cobra Vipers entered the Joes' field hospital on an errand of death. In the darkness, one by one, the Vipers executed the wounded Joes without mercy. Flint, wide awake and terrified, watched as the lead Viper approached him. The Viper pulled his pistol on him at the exact moment that Flint pulled one of his own against the Viper's chest and fired.  
  
The six other Vipers were startled by Flint's unexpected resistance. Seizing the element of surprise, Flint threw off his bed sheets and revealed pistols in both hands. He opened fire and managed to take down four of the Vipers before the rest could duck for cover. Cursing, Flint rolled off the bed, knowing he would be in for a world of pain, with his chest still hurting from his earlier bullet wound. Just in time, Flint hit the floor as the remaining Vipers returned fire, tearing his bed apart. Flint waited for the firing to abate before venturing to stick his head out and fire once more, taking down another Viper before ducking for cover once again.  
  
Seven Vipers. Six down. That left one more to go. The hospital was deathly silent. Where was the last Viper? Flint stopped to reload both of his guns and turned to his right. It was time to move. Flint did not realize that the last Viper had snuck around in a flanking movement and now had a rifle aimed straight at Flint's head. Flint heard the click of the rifle behind him and mentally cursed himself for his carelessness. Forgive me, Ally, he thought to himself as he prepared for the end.  
  
At that moment, a HAVOC came crashing through the wall, right in front of Flint's eyes. The HAVOC was driven by Steeler, and Lady Jaye stood up in the gunner's seat. The Viper, who moments before was preparing to finish off Flint from behind, now looked like a deer in headlights.  
  
"Stay the hell away from my man!" Lady Jaye cried as she fired on the hapless Viper with her handgun.  
  
Flint breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up.  
  
"What took you so long?" he smiled.  
  
Lady Jaye smiled back.  
  
"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"  
  
"If you two lovebirds don't mind," Steeler interrupted. "May I suggest we get the ever loving hell out of here?"  
  
Lady Jaye leapt off the HAVOC and helped Flint into the cockpit, next to Steeler.  
  
"It's all gone to hell in a handbasket," Lady Jaye said. "The perimeter's been overrun. The city's swarming with Cobras and mind controlled lunatics who aren't stopping for shit. Hawk is dead, along with most of the defenders. Our mission now is to haul ass out of here as fast as we can."  
  
"Hawk is dead?"  
  
Lady Jaye nodded sadly. The image of Hawk, slumped over the radio with a large bloodstain spreading over the back of his jacket and a smoking pistol still in his hands, as the Cobra troopers swept through the last remnants of resistance, remained fresh in her mind.  
  
"Where are we pulling back to?" Flint said.  
  
"Anywhere but here!" Lady Jaye hollered as the HAVOC rumbled to life and sped away.  
  
* * *  
  
Five miles away from the center of the action, Snake Eyes and Cover Girl found Scarlett next to her parachute and using a tree for cover, attempting to hold off a large number of brainwashed civilians, along one of Washington's side streets. Already a dozen attackers lay on the wet pavement, dead or wounded. Their howls of pain filled the night, complementing the deafening thunder of the storm.  
  
In her heart, Scarlett believed that this was the end. She imagined Duke watching her from above. Tears of anger blinded her eyes. I'm not afraid to die, she thought to herself. Let them come. I'll go down fighting with everything I've got. I'll be with you soon, Duke. Soon we'll be together, like it was always meant to be.  
  
Scarlett grimaced with pain as she clutched her leg, where she had been shot. She reloaded her pistol with the last clip she had and kissed it for luck.  
  
Just as five more attackers charged and Scarlett readied herself to fire, Cover Girl's AWE Striker roared onto the scene, and Snake Eyes, manning the machine gun, mowed down the attackers indiscriminately.  
  
"What?" Scarlett said in shock as she realized that she was still alive.  
  
"Scarlett, come on!" Cover Girl shouted. "We've come to get you out of here!"  
  
"No," Scarlett replied angrily, "leave me!"  
  
She waved them off for emphasis. "That's an order!"  
  
"I can't do that," Cover Girl said, stopping to shoot an oncoming civilian with her pistol.  
  
Twenty brainwashed civilians charged Scarlett. Without hesitation, Snake Eyes leapt off the AWE Striker, closed the distance between himself and Scarlett, and fired submachine guns with both hands at the attacking mob. When the guns both went dry, he drew his sword and cut down two attackers who were just about to jump Scarlett. Scarlett watched dumbly, forgetting even to fire her last rounds of ammo at the mob.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Scarlett cried as Snake Eyes grabbed her and hefted her over his shoulder, holding her steady with one hand while he used the free hand to clear a path for himself with his sword.  
  
"Put me down!" Scarlett shouted irrationally as she futilely resisted Snake Eyes, who impassively carried her back to the AWE Striker. She looked up and saw a crowd of enemies chasing them, and she pulled up her handgun and emptied an entire clip into the pursuing crowd.  
  
"Eat this, you motherfuckers!" Scarlett screamed. Tears were in her eyes. She was as angry with the mindless mob as she was with Snake Eyes for saving her life. She kept pressing the trigger even after the clip had run dry.  
  
* * *  
  
When the AWE Striker had safely escaped the mob, Cover Girl heard Beach Head's order on the radio for a full retreat, and they sped away from the carnage of the battle. With her wounded leg bandaged, Scarlett sat morosely in the passenger's seat while Cover Girl drove silently. Snake Eyes manned the gunner's seat. Scarlett turned around to face a startled Snake Eyes.  
  
"Why did you save me?" Scarlett said angrily. "I told you to leave me behind. I was supposed to die out there. Do you hear me?"  
  
Can't you see, Scarlett cried in her mind, I've got nothing left to live for? Why did you save me for this life of torment?  
  
Cover Girl peered at Scarlett out of the corner of her eye and knew the thoughts that were going through her head at that moment. Don't you know, Cover Girl wanted to say aloud. Don't you know that he loves you?  
  
Snake Eyes declined to answer Scarlett, instead folding his arms and staring out toward the side, watching the trees and houses pass them by in the rainy darkness as they sped along the highway to an unknown future. 


	7. The Captive

ONE YEAR AGO - WASHINGTON, DC  
  
On the bridge over the Potomac River that led to Arlington, traffic had slowed to an imperceptible crawl. Having ditched their HAVOC after breaking out the defense perimeter, Flint, Lady Jaye, and Steeler walked over the bridge on foot. They joined a large number of civilians who, with the effects of the mind control gas beginning to dissipate, had come to their senses and turned back to leave the battleground of the Mall.  
  
"Remember," Flint cautioned his teammates, "we've got to cross the Potomac to meet the rest of the team. Just try to blend in as best you can."  
  
The trio of Joes was dressed in dark, heavy ponchos that hid their rifles from view as they marched through the torrential rain. Halfway along the bridge, a pair of Vipers stood guard. They looked over the citizens as they passed. Cobra had G.I. JOE on the run, and the hunt for the fleeing Joe survivors was on. At strategic locations around the Washington, DC area, other Cobra forces searched for Joes, hoping to catch them in a dragnet.  
  
As Flint, Lady Jaye, and Steeler nonchalantly walked past the Viper guards, the Vipers barred the way with their rifles.  
  
"Halt," the first Viper said.  
  
"Show us what you've got underneath those ponchos," the second said brusquely.  
  
Flint sighed as he opened up his poncho, revealing his army uniform. The second Viper's eyes went wide in alarm as Flint threw off his poncho, drew up his rifle, and fired a round into him point blank.  
  
The shot rang out in the night and got everyone's attention immediately.  
  
"We've got Joes!" the first Viper managed to scream as he charged Flint with his bayoneted rifle. Flint ducked and dove out of the way as Lady Jaye brutally swung her javelin at the charging Viper, connecting with the Viper's head and sending him over the bridge into the swirling Potomac.  
  
Two flight pods, flying low flights overhead, came in lower and spotted the three Joes at once with their search lights. While Steeler shot down one pod as it made a strafing run at the bridge, Lady Jaye shot out the lights of the other with her pistol. Tucking the pistol in her waistband, Lady Jaye climbed a car and leapt from the side at the second flight pod, which was angling in low to blow the Joes away. While the civilians ran from the scene in a mad panic, Steeler and Flint watched with their jaws dropped as Lady Jaye grabbed onto the side of the flight pod. In one rapid, acrobatic maneuver, she climbed into the pilot's seat, fired three shots from her pistol, shoved the dead pilot out the other side, and recovered control of the pod in time to stop it from crashing.  
  
"Holy moly," Steeler said in awe of Lady Jaye.  
  
"God I love that woman," Flint nodded.  
  
Lady Jaye flew the Cobra flight pod past Flint and Steeler and circled around to pick them up.  
  
"Quit gawking and grab onto the bottom!" Lady Jaye shouted. "There's more Vipers coming down from the other end of the bridge!"  
  
Steeler looked and noticed three Vipers running in their direction, looking for a clear shot at them. He and Flint grabbed onto the flight pod as it hovered just above them, firing at the oncoming Vipers. One Viper was shot dead, while the other two used the stopped cars along the road as cover. With Flint and Steeler holding on, Lady Jaye hit the engines full throttle and flew off the bridge, heading north over the river. The two remaining Vipers reached the approximate area from where Lady Jaye had taken off, and they fired on the retreating Joes from a distance of fifty yards. All but one of their shots missed the mark. The one shot that hit struck Steeler in the arm, and, crying out in pain, the unlucky Joe fell into the river.  
  
"Steeler!" Lady Jaye turned around, ready to go back for him. Steeler was being swept along down the river, back to the bridge and toward Cobra.  
  
"Keep going!" Flint ordered.  
  
"But-but-" Lady Jaye protested, her course continuing to take her and Flint away from the bridge, up the river.  
  
"We'll have to come back for him later!"  
  
If he's still alive, Lady Jaye silently uttered to herself. Flint was right, though. If she turned back for him, all three of them would be captured or killed. But no matter how she rationalized the situation, it still felt wrong to leave a man behind, to allow a man to fall into Cobra's merciless hands.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Steeler," Lady Jaye whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.  
  
* * *  
  
Steeler awoke in a dark, concrete, windowless dungeon, shirtless and chained by his arms and legs to a wall. White bandages were wrapped around his left arm, which had received a flesh wound. A single incandescent light weakly illuminated the cheerless hellhole where he had spent the last three days.  
  
Three days, Steeler thought to himself, turning the idea over in his mind. He was beginning to lose track of time. For three days, Destro had personally come in and interrogated him, while his functionaries slapped and kicked him around. Where are the remaining Joes? That was the question, the only question that mattered to Cobra. The Cobras wanted to find and kill every last member of G.I. JOE. Steeler bottled up and revealed absolutely nothing. Every Joe knew the rendezvous point was in Arlington, a short distance away from the battleground. From Arlington, quick arrangements would be made for a second rendezvous point, further away from the area, where plans would hopefully be made to mount a major operation against Cobra.  
  
Steeler heard footsteps approaching his prison cell, and he looked out toward the bars, mentally preparing himself for another round of questions and beatings.  
  
The Cobra guard opened the cell doors. Steeler shut his eyes, anticipating more pain.  
  
"Please leave us alone until I say otherwise," a woman said in an East European accent.  
  
Steeler recognized that voice. He opened his eyes and beheld the lovely Baroness.  
  
"Hello, Steeler," the Baroness said softly.  
  
Steeler couldn't help but notice the way the Baroness's black uniform closely hugged her curvaceous figure. He shut his eyes and turned his head away. He couldn't afford to think such thoughts.  
  
The Baroness closed the distance between them and placed a hand on Steeler's face, turning it toward her.  
  
"You poor thing," the Baroness cooed sympathetically, "what have Destro and his thugs done to you?"  
  
Steeler stared at the Baroness.  
  
"I know what you're trying, Baroness. Don't think you can weasel information from me by being nice to me, all of a sudden."  
  
"What would make you suggest such a wicked thing?"  
  
Steeler looked at the Baroness as she stood from him, a few feet away. His eyes were drawn against their will to the red Cobra symbol that adorned her torso. Steeler couldn't help but notice her shapely breasts. If he looked closely enough, he could see her taut nipples poking through her tight fitting uniform. That meant she probably wasn't wearing a bra. The thought of that was a huge turn-on for Steeler. As the Baroness gazed at him silently and thoughtfully, Steeler found himself fantasizing about stripping off the Baroness's uniform with his own hands. Her full breasts would be revealed. He wanted very badly to devour those breasts. He wanted very badly to see the Baroness completely naked, and to ravish her naked body with his own. The shackles on his arms and legs an even greater torment to him, now that he felt an intensifying desire to have sex with the Baroness.  
  
Steeler closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He wondered why he was responding this way. It's because I've probably never been this close to her before, he realized. Over the years, Steeler had seen her a few times from afar, noticed that she was good-looking, a "looker," but thought nothing more of it. To Steeler, the Baroness had always been a distant, unatainable woman. Never in a million years could he even dream of being with a woman like her. Not to mention the fact that she was the enemy. That put her even further out of his league. But now Steeler was closer to this woman than he had ever been, and he was painfully conscious of her as a woman, more now than ever before.  
  
The Baroness gave a knowing smile.  
  
"Do you like what you see?" she said seductively as she undid the top of her uniform, revealing a generous amount of cleavage to Steeler. Steeler tried to turn away, but the Baroness turned his face to her chest. Her uniform was partly undone. As Steeler suspected, the Baroness was not wearing a bra. Her chest was covered just enough so that he was unable to see her nipples.  
  
"Do you want to touch me, taste me, make love to me?"  
  
The Baroness reached down with her other hand and felt Steeler's crotch, and the helpless Joe gasped. She smiled at the effect she was having on him.  
  
"Now why don't you tell me where you were rushing off to? It could make things so much more pleasurable for the both of us."  
  
Steeler began to cry tears of frustration and anguish. His arms and legs strained against the shackles, wanting to reach out for the woman who tormented him.  
  
"Why are you so cruel?" Steeler cried.  
  
"I have a confession to make to you," the Baroness said gently. "For a long time, Destro and I were lovers. But in the last year, he's been neglecting me. He and Cobra Commander have been consumed by their thirst for conquest. How can Destro make time for someone as insignificant as a girlfriend when he's busy constructing weather dominators and inventing horrible new weapons?"  
  
The Baroness buttoned up her uniform and paced back and forth in front of a bewildered Steeler.  
  
"It's frustrating, I tell you. I'm a Cobra, but my body has needs, just like every other woman. I have so much to offer to a man, and I get no attention from anyone worthy of me. Then a handsome young man like you comes along. A man who has so much to offer, a man who can satisfy me."  
  
"I'm not your toy," Steeler croaked, his throat dry. Desire raged through his body like a forest fire, despite his best efforts to squelch the flame.  
  
"You want to know why I'm doing this? I've been watching you. You poor man, all alone, cut off from your friends, suffering days of torture. And yet still you do not break. I've taken pity on you, Steeler, and I admire your integrity and courage. I find you strangely attractive. But you know-- they'll kill you soon. What if I told you there was a way out?"  
  
"A way out?" Steeler repeated.  
  
"Join us," the Baroness said. "We can wipe your memories of G.I. JOE from your mind. You can truly become one of us. You and I could be together."  
  
Steeler looked at the Baroness with suspicion. He was unsure how serious the Baroness was. Was this some kind of a trick?  
  
"You know I can't do that," Steeler said. He gasped as the Baroness put a finger on his lips and moved in closer, pressing her body against his.  
  
"Don't refuse me until you've had time to think about it," the Baroness whispered. "Just think about it, will you? It could be so wonderful."  
  
With those words, the Baroness turned to leave, and Steeler was left alone. His head was bowed, and he felt like his whole body was ready to collapse under a weight too heavy for him to bear. This psychosexual torment was simply too much for him to bear, more so than the physical torture he had previously endured. Steeler knew what his body wanted. He knew that he wanted the Baroness now. He would throw away everything, throw away duty and honor, for a chance to realize this potent sexual fantasy, a fantasy that tantalized him with its nearness and possibility.  
  
"I'm not Dusty," Steeler whispered. "I don't betray my duty. I'd rather die than become one of them."  
  
If there was the slimmest hope in the world, Steeler knew in his heart that he had to find a way out of his dungeon. Somehow, he had to get out of here.  
  
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This extended flashback is turning out a lot longer than I first thought. We will get back to "The Present Day" eventually, LOL. Also, a disclaimer--I haven't actually watched "Worlds Without End" since the 80's, so I might get some details wrong. I'm relying heavily on online summaries. Anyway, more of Steeler and the Baroness in Chapter 8. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. 


	8. A Kiss in the Dark

For a long time, Steeler lay sprawled across the floor of his solitary prison cell. The Baroness had mercifully unchained him from the wall, allowing him freedom of movement about his cell. He felt like a lethargic slug. He just didn't feel like moving much at all, so he lay on the floor, stomach down.  
  
It was late at night, or very early in the morning. Steeler couldn't tell what time of the day it was. The single Cobra guard standing in close proximity to the jail cell door yawned loudly. Steeler had been waiting for this moment, the moment when the Cobras guarding him would grow complacent and lax. They lacked discipline. The Baroness could show up any minute now, as far as Steeler knew. He had to make a move before she appeared.  
  
Slowly and stealthily, Steeler crawled toward his prison cell door and stood up. The guard, with his back turned to the prisoner, paid Steeler no mind. Standing up, Steeler reached out through the bars and grabbed the guard by the neck in a chokehold.  
  
"Come on, you son of a bitch, pass out!" Steeler growled as the guard struggled.  
  
The fight was causing an enormous racket. The guard fired his assault rifle blindly into the air, emptying his entire clip of ammunition. That was no good. More of the enemy would arrive within seconds.  
  
The Cobra guard finally succumbed to Steeler's chokehold and collapsed in his arms. Steeler fumbled through the cell doors, searching the guard's person, and succeeded in finding the prison cell door keys. He quickly unlocked the cell doors and freed himself.  
  
There was movement in the stairwell. A squad of Cobra troops was heading down toward the dungeon, trampling down the stairs, ready to take Steeler out.  
  
"I need a weapon," Steeler searched the area. The guard had an extra clip of ammo for his assault rifle. Steeler took the weapon, reloaded it, and also grabbed the fallen Cobra's grenades. The sounds in the stairwell leading down to the dungeon were growing louder. The enemy would be here in seconds. Steeler had a full view of the entrance, at the end of a short corridor. The stairwell door opened. Steeler threw an armed grenade at the opening door and ducked around a corner.  
  
An explosion. Cries of surprise, dismay, and pain. Steeler turned to look, and saw the remaining members of the enemy squad charging his position, guns blazing. Steeler returned fire and shot them all. A dozen Vipers lay dead on the floor. Steeler paused next to the body of a Viper he'd just shot and looked up the stairwell. No one was coming at the moment. He realized he needed to put on some better clothes. All he was wearing at the moment was his green army pants. Steeler hastily undressed and stripped off the dead Viper's uniform.  
  
Now in full disguise, Steeler ran up the stairwell, praying that he would not run into any more Cobras just yet. After running up three flights of stairs, Steeler finally reached an exit, and he dashed out into the bustling corridors. The Cobra base was in full alert. Cobra troops were running about, trying to secure the area and find the escaped Joe.  
  
"The prisoner is dressed in the uniform of a Viper!" Steeler heard a Tele- Viper say.  
  
As Steeler, amidst the general hustle and bustle of the Cobra base, looked around for a way out, a hand reached out from his right side and grabbed hold of his shoulder. Steeler froze.  
  
"You there," the Baroness said, drawing Steeler into a darkened side corridor.  
  
"Yes?" Steeler said. Beneath the silver mask of his Viper helmet, Steeler felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead.  
  
"Put down your weapons slowly."  
  
Steeler quietly obeyed.  
  
"Walk towards me with your hands up."  
  
Steeler walked toward the Baroness. They were both in the darkness now, such that none of the other Cobras running around took notice of them.  
  
"Take off your helmet," the Baroness ordered Steeler at gunpoint.  
  
Steeler revealed himself to the Baroness and sighed. This was the end of the road, he supposed.  
  
"I knew it was you," the Baroness said with pleasure. "I've anticipated your every move. I knew you would try to escape. You are every bit as strong and resourceful as I thought you were. But I've outsmarted you, in the end."  
  
Or maybe this isn't the end, Steeler thought. A plan was rapidly forming in his mind. The Baroness was hesitating to take action against him. He had expected any moment now for the Baroness to call in other Cobras to apprehend him. Or she could easily shoot him herself.  
  
"You're not going to turn me in," Steeler said with confidence.  
  
"Stay where you are!" the Baroness hissed.  
  
"You're not going to shoot me, either."  
  
"And what makes you think so? Because of all that nonsense I talked to you last night? You didn't think I was serious, did you? As if I would make love to a G.I. JOE!"  
  
The old, scornful, haughty Baroness had returned. The Baroness who was too beautiful, too desirable for Steeler to touch. But Steeler sensed that it was all an act, a final act of denial.  
  
"I think you like me, Baroness," Steeler said. His chest nearly touched the barrel of the Baroness's handgun. Still the Baroness did nothing. She was visibly trembling.  
  
Steeler reached out and swiftly disarmed the Baroness. The tables were turned. Steeler had the Baroness at his mercy. He shoved her against the wall and held her shoulders with his hands against the wall.  
  
"I can still scream," the Baroness whispered in weak defiance. Their faces were so close that they nearly touched. Steeler could feel her breath on his face.  
  
"You could, but you won't," Steeler said as his lips closed in on hers.  
  
Steeler kissed the Baroness hungrily. For a moment, he forgot about his plight and the need to escape, as he thought only of repaying the Baroness for her earlier sexual teasing of him. His lips pressed hard against hers and his tongue invaded her mouth. He devoured her. He felt the Baroness responding to the aggressive kiss, and it intensified his sexual arousal. Her body melted into his, she began to moan helplessly, and she put her arms around him, striving to draw him nearer to her. At the same time, Steeler's hand found the Baroness's breast, and he began to fondle, squeeze, and caress her breast like a crazed, horny teenager. The combined effect drove the Baroness over the edge with desire.  
  
All this time, Steeler never let up on his passionate kiss. When he finally released the Baroness from his embrace, the Baroness was breathless and exhausted. Her face was flushed with arousal and pleasure, and her chest heaved with each breath.  
  
"Don't go," the Baroness pleaded with him in a softened voice.  
  
"I have to," Steeler said, picking up his gun and donning his mask and helmet. "Goodbye, sweetheart."  
  
The Baroness collapsed to her knees and watched Steeler depart. He was leaving. He would find his way out and rejoin his teammates. And she, the Baroness, would be nothing to him. Perhaps they would never see each other again. How could that be, after such a kiss? She had been right about him. He was every bit as strong as she had suspected. In bed, such a man could reduce her to putty with the power of his lovemaking. The Baroness fantasized of a strong man who would drive into her naked body again and again. A desire to make love to Steeler burned within her heart. And now he was gone. She covered her face with her hands.  
  
"Don't go," the Baroness whispered again with great longing.  
  
But Steeler was already long gone. 


	9. Red Handed

ONE YEAR AFTER THE BATTLE FOR WASHINGTON, DC - THE PRESENT DAY  
  
(Immediately precedes the events of Chapter 1)  
  
In lower Manhattan, deep in the bowels of the enormous Cobra fortress, a small team of Tele-Vipers lazily lounged in their security station. The supercomputers concentrated in the basement of the Cobra fortress constantly monitored the security of the main computer servers as well as their internet connections throughout the world.  
  
One of the Tele-Vipers, taking a break from his issue of Playboy long enough to run his routine diagnostic tests on the Cobra server named Anaconda, was the first to notice the internet intrusion.  
  
"Hey," he said, turning to the other four Tele-Vipers, who were huddled around a small table playing Hearts, "we have an online intrusion."  
  
"What is the source," a second Tele-Viper inquired as he came up to the first Tele-Viper's station and watched on the monitor as it displayed the running log of top secret security files the intruder had already accessed and downloaded.  
  
"Unknown," the first Tele-Viper answered. He was running a tracing program at the moment.  
  
"This guy has rerouted his IP address through at least a dozen different servers all over the world."  
  
"Son of a bitch is good."  
  
"Yeah, no shit."  
  
"Could this be G.I. JOE?"  
  
"Yeah, gotta be."  
  
"How long until we can get a full trace?"  
  
"Two minutes."  
  
"Let me handle this," the second Tele-Viper ordered. "I spent high school hacking into credit card company servers. This is nothing."  
  
"Be my guest, pal."  
  
"The intruder is in the city. Alert Commander Zartan and have his police standing by to move immediately once we get an exact location."  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
"Come on, you little bitch, come on. Almost got you."  
  
* * *  
  
Mainframe paced nervously around the small apartment room as he watched Dial Tone hack into the Cobra mainframe.  
  
"Jesus, will you hurry it up, they've almost got us," Mainframe cried as he watched the monitor screen show their safeguards being penetrated, one by one. By now, Cobra had figured out that their IP address did NOT originate from the Ukraine, Germany, France, Nigeria, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Idaho, or Montana. By now, Cobra knew that they were in New York City. In a matter of seconds, Cobra would refine the trace and discover that they were located in Brooklyn, just over the Brooklyn Bridge, snooping through their secret files under their very noses. It wouldn't be long before Cobra would discover the exact physical address, right down to what room they were sitting in. Then they would be in a world of shit.  
  
"Easy, Mainframe," Dial Tone said as he popped a wad of gum into his mouth. "Even if they pinpoint us, they still have to haul ass over here before we finish downloading."  
  
Mainframe hastily began packing their gear into their backpacks. He checked his pistol and made sure he had plenty of spare clips. Satisfied, Mainframe stuffed the pistol into his belt.  
  
"Our safeguards are failing faster than we anticipated," Mainframe said. "Whoever's tracing us knows his shit. How much left do we have to download?"  
  
"A lot of shit, Mainframe," Dial Tone said grimly. "A lot of shit. But we can't abort now. We go all the way. That's the plan. You know damn well we won't get another chance like this to hack into Cobra again. They'd come back with a firewall more massive than the Great Wall of China. You know how much we need this information. Can't do a damn thing without it."  
  
Flint was planning a major strike against Cobra, the first coordinated attack against the enemy in an entire year. Underground forces scattered across the eastern seaboard would come together in a desperate operation, under Flint's leadership. Flint and Lady Jaye were still in Philadelphia, planning more attacks against Cobra with other G.I. JOE members along the mid-Atlantic coast, but they would soon be arriving in New York to rejoin Beach Head's group. Beach Head's group consisted of Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Low-Light, Steeler, and Cover Girl.  
  
But first, they needed to get these top secret files, which would hopefully reveal the location of every Cobra base, along with the movements of Cobra Commander and information on his secret weapons programs. Those weapons had already killed many good Joes.  
  
* * *  
  
At this very moment, a Cobra FANG chopper carrying Zarana, Buzzer, Ripper, and Torch was flying low over Brooklyn, rapidly converging on the source of the hacking invasion. Zarana piloted the chopper while the Dreadnoks steadied themselves on the landing bars. They were all dressed in the sleek black uniform of the Cobra Police Force. The Dreadnoks were eager for blood. They were vultures ready for a long delayed feast. It had been a while since they had last had the opportunity to kill Joes, and they were excited. The thrill of killing was almost as great as the thrill of sex. As Zarana listened on her headset for further instructions from the Tele- Viper tracing the hacker, she frowned. Her heart was troubled. Somehow, she sensed that this night would not turn out well at all. A computer hacker, possibly G.I. JOE-could Mainframe be involved?  
  
Something terrible is going to happen today, Zarana thought to herself.  
  
Mainframe, please let it not be you, Zarana silently pleaded as she briefly placed a hand over rapidly beating heart.  
  
"We have them," the Tele-Viper announced over the radio.  
  
"Where?" Zarana demanded.  
  
The Tele-Viper paused to check out a real-time satellite surveillance image and use GPS to find Zarana's chopper. He relayed his coordinates to Zarana.  
  
Within moments, the chopper landed on the roof of the suspected apartment building, and all four Cobras jumped off and headed for the stairwell. Their weapons were primed for murder.  
  
* * *  
  
"Did you hear that?" Mainframe said, poking his head out of the window and listening for the Cobra chopper.  
  
"They're here, I know," Dial Tone said.  
  
"Well?" Mainframe cried urgently.  
  
"Got it," Dial Tone said triumphantly as he pulled out the CD from his laptop, the CD containing all the illicit information he had just downloaded off the Cobra network. Mainframe took the CD from Dial Tone and stuffed it into a side pocket in his pants.  
  
"Then let's get the hell out of here!"  
  
At that very instant, the two Joes heard the sound of their front door being broken down. Mainframe looked toward the open window. The curtains blew outward in the wind. A fire escape stairway led to the street from a height of five stories. The enemy would be here within instants. There was no other choice.  
  
"Quick!" Mainframe cried as he led Dial Tone out of their apartment.  
  
Buzzer, the Dreadnok in the lead, ran for the open window in the living room.  
  
He stuck his head out of the window and spotted the two Joes climbing down the fire escape, one level below him. One of them, Dial Tone, looked up, and his eyes met Buzzer's for an instant. Buzzer, enraged, pulled out his pistol and fired three shots. All of them ricocheted off of the steel bars of the fire escape ladder and stairway, missing their targets completely.  
  
"Curses!" Buzzer hollered furiously as Zarana, Ripper, and Torch joined him at the window. Already the Joes had made it two levels down.  
  
Zarana grabbed Buzzer's arm and squeezed it in a vise grip.  
  
"I want them taken alive!" she declared.  
  
Buzzer smiled at his superior with an air of condescension and scorn. Zarana made a mental note to beat the shit out of him on the slightest pretext.  
  
"Come on, let's go down the other way!" shouted Zarana as she ordered the Dreadnoks out of the apartment and down the stairwell, hoping to beat the Joes to the street level.  
  
Zarana and the Dreadnoks huffed and puffed down the stairwell. They practically bowled down the bottom door and fell over themselves running for the front entrance. Buzzer was the first to burst out of the building and frantically scan the area for the fleeing Joes. He saw them just as they reached the end of the block and ducked into a narrow street on the right. He turned and searched the cars stopped at the red light on the street, and he smiled at the sight of a rider on a black Harley Davidson motorcycle. Serendipity! Just the ticket, Buzzer thought to himself happily.  
  
Buzzer pointed to his comrades.  
  
"They turned into that alley. Follow them, I'll swing around and cut them off!"  
  
Buzzer pulled out his pistol and shot the man on the motorcycle, causing him to fall off of his bike, onto the street. Buzzer ran to the bike and hopped on.  
  
"Official police business!" he shouted at the man who lay dying on the pavement.  
  
With a primal howl of excitement, Buzzer revved up the bike and raced in a direction opposite to Zarana, cutting and weaving through the vehicles like a madman. Zarana scowled in disgust as she turned to give chase to the Joes. Zarana, Ripper, and Torch reached the end of the block and turned, nearly slipping in the cold, wet pavement. Zarana could only see two shadows fifty yards ahead of her.  
  
There was a loud roar of a motorcycle engine at the end of the block, followed by a squeal of tires and two gunshots, which rang out like loud claps of thunder throughout the narrow alley. Zarana and the other two Dreadnoks halted in their steps. The two fleeing figures in the distance were now still, lying in the street.  
  
Zarana was enraged. Didn't she explicitly order Buzzer to take the two Joes alive? She got no respect from these stupid motorcycle riding, grape soda-drinking gangsters. It pissed her off to no end. And Zartan was too busy to care about whether or not his henchmen paid his sister the proper respect.  
  
At the end of the alleyway, Buzzer hopped off his bike and holstered his handgun. Zarana, Ripper, and Torch ran out to meet him and the two fallen Joes.  
  
It began to rain hard now, and the dark side street was briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning.  
  
"Hey everyone, check this shit out!" Buzzer hollered with glee.  
  
"You rotten son of a bitch!" Zarana screamed emphatically. "I TOLD you I wanted them taken ALIVE!"  
  
Ripper turned the Joes over onto their backs, so the Dreadnoks could see their faces. Zarana's stomach sank right down to her shoes as she saw Mainframe and Dial Tone lying on the street.  
  
Mainframe, Zarana said silently to herself. He had been shot in the shoulder and looked dazed.  
  
"Oh, they're still alive, don't worry about that none, dearest Zarana" Buzzer said with a tone of mock saccharine sweetness. "Although one of them won't be, in a minute."  
  
Buzzer pointed to Dial Tone, who writhed in agony on the pavement, clutching his shot neck, trying in vain to staunch the flow of blood from his severed carotid artery. Blood sputtered out of his mouth as well. It appeared as if Dial Tone was trying to say something. Whatever he was trying to say, no one would ever know. He was on the launch pad to death. Zarana shut her eyes and turned her head from the sight.  
  
If it had been Mainframe with blood pouring out of his neck, instead of poor Dial Tone, Zarana did not know what she would do. Her world would collapse. Life would lose all meaning. Since the great battle of Washington, DC, when the forces of G.I. JOE had been defeated in open battle, Zarana had taken heart from the knowledge that Mainframe had not been killed. So many Joes had perished, but Mainframe had been plucky enough to escape Cobra's dragnet. She had always cherished in her heart a dream of reuniting with Mainframe. The dream remained alive, nourished and sustained by the faintest of hopes.  
  
Now, Zarana and Mainframe locked eyes in a brief moment of understanding. Zarana had never forgotten the way Mainframe had kissed her. He had kissed her, and then she had zapped him. But the kiss had stayed with her, haunting her. No one had ever kissed her like that, with that kind of tenderness and gentleness and warmth. She often thought about him, during those long sleepless hours in her bed at night. In those hours, Zarana dreamed that Mainframe was with her, holding her in his arms, kissing her the way he had kissed her on that fateful night. She wanted him to kiss her on her lips, her cheek, her neck, the hollow of her throat, the curve of her breasts, the sensitive tips of her nipples, her smooth navel, her groin, the tender insides of her thighs. She fantasized of him kissing her like that from head to toe, all the way down, paying homage to her body. When a warm breeze blew in through the open window, caressing her naked body, she imagined that it was Mainframe caressing her. Her body was drawn like a magnet to his. Her soul was drawn as well to the gentleness and the caring that she remembered in his eyes. Even when they had met for the last time, and Mainframe had been a helpless child of seven, and she had given him the formula to reverse the de-aging, Zarana remembered the way he had looked at her. His eyes had told her that he remembered as well their brief kiss, so long ago. Those eyes told her of the long nights he, too, had lain in bed, thinking of her, wanting to know every little thing there was to know about her, wanting to share his life with her. Wanting to love her. Those eyes told her, if only we weren't on opposite sides in this war, we could be free to be together and love one another for the rest of our lives.  
  
So much ran through Zarana's mind in a mere instant. So many emotions bubbled and boiled in turmoil in her torn heart. She was a Cobra, with allegiance sworn to Cobra Commander. If she broke her oath of allegiance, it meant death. But here was Mainframe, who offered her a different life, a life not of violence and hatred, but of intimacy and love. He was her good angel.  
  
"Having deep thoughts, love?" Buzzer sneered.  
  
Zarana turned to look at her teammates, who all gazed at her curiously. Zarana felt strangely detached from this moment. She suddenly forgot how to dissemble before her Dreadnoks and show them the cruel bitch they always loved to see.  
  
Zarana made no reply.  
  
"Say, Zarana love, isn't that Mainframe?" Buzzer pressed Zarana with astonishing insolence. "Didn't you and him have a 'thing' once?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I remember!" Torch said. "We were gonna blow up his sorry ass, but she went back and saved him."  
  
"So what if I did?" Zarana said, recovering her usual demeanor. "Don't mean nothing. I had a little episode of conscious-entious-ness, or whatever the bloody hell you call it."  
  
"No I don't think so," Buzzer declared. "You and computer boy here had something 'special.' We Dreadnoks call that 'true love.' I don't know what stopped you from leaving Cobra so you could make little babies with him out in the suburbs."  
  
The three Dreadnoks burst out laughing at Buzzer's joke.  
  
"Let's kill him," Ripper said.  
  
"Shoot him up full 'o holes!" Torch howled.  
  
"No, we need to bring him in. We need to interrogate him," Zarana protested.  
  
"Listen, love," Buzzer snarled, "We all's know you've gots a soft spot for computer boy. As such, your emotions are interfering with your judgment. As SUCH, you ain't competent to be giving us no orders."  
  
"Therefore," Buzzer raised a finger in the air triumphantly, "since this is a DEMOCRACY we live in, and there are THREE of us to ONE of you, it's high time we shot his sorry ass."  
  
Ripper snickered. "Democracy, ha ha, good one, Buzzer."  
  
Ripper pointed to Mainframe. There was more lightning and thunder. Next to Mainframe, Dial Tone was in his death throes. He would be gone very, very soon.  
  
"Here, Zarana," Ripper invited. "You do the honors." 


	10. The Promise

"The Morning After"  
  
Warm light from the morning sun seeped in through the closed curtains of the small Brooklyn motel room, awakening Zarana to the most pleasant sight she had ever experienced. Just one foot away from her, resting on the pillow was Mainframe, still sleeping soundly. His head was turned toward her, and his left arm was draped over her chest.  
  
Beneath the bed sheets, the two lovers were naked. Their spent bodies still tingled with the electric sensation of their erotic intertwining. Zarana blushed to remember the way they had made love for the first time together. Mainframe had a gunshot wound in his shoulder; the injured shoulder was bandaged, and he was weakened. So Zarana had taken the lead. She had straddled him as he lay down on the bed and ridden him hard, until they had climaxed together. Then, with an insatiable hunger, Zarana had shifted on the bed around Mainframe, allowing him to taste and drink every square inch of her body.  
  
Zarana smiled at Mainframe as she propped her head on her elbow and fondly watched Mainframe sleep. She caressed his face and brushed a few tendrils of hair to one side. Mainframe felt this, and he was roused from his slumber at last.  
  
For a long time, the two lovers looked into each other's eyes, as if both of them were reflecting on how they had crossed the line that separated them, a line to which they could never turn back.  
  
"Morning, love," Zarana said with an affectionate smile.  
  
Mainframe pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips. Zarana felt that tingling sensation in her body as the kiss deepened.  
  
When Mainframe finally released her from the kiss, he had a serious look on his face.  
  
"Come with me," Mainframe said. "Let's get out of this city together."  
  
"What," Zarana said, "Me join the Joes?"  
  
It was just about the last thing Zarana would ever have thought of. Yet, she had turned on the Dreadnoks. She knew she would never be forgiven. Where else could she go?  
  
"Yes," Mainframe said. "If you came with me, we could stay together. You know I have to find my buddies again. If they could just see how much we love each other, I believe they would understand. They would accept you. It would be hard at first, but they would accept you."  
  
Zarana closed her eyes and thought about the prospect for a long time. Finally, she opened her eyes again and looked into Mainframe's own.  
  
"Yes," Zarana said, "I want to come with you. I'll do whatever it takes for us to be together. Whatever it takes."  
  
Mainframe smiled tenderly at Zarana, and he felt Zarana shifting her body closer to his own. The feeling of being so near her nakedness was exhilarating, and all at once he was hard again. He pressed his groin against her hips with increasing urgency, and Zarana understood. With a knowing smile, Zarana surrendered to the force of her desire, and the two of them drowned together in their passion for one another.  
  
* * *  
  
The four guards posted at the Brooklyn Bridge were stopping everyone at the entrance to Manhattan. Together, Mainframe and Zarana, dressed in civilian clothing, made their way across the bridge. Mainframe nervously tightened his grip on Zarana's hand. His other hand felt the data disks tucked safely away in his opposite jacket pocket. Only the day before, Mainframe and Dial Tone had been running for their lives, and now Mainframe was walking back into the den of the lion. If he were detected, if his mission should fail after he had come so far-  
  
Mainframe shook his head, trying to drive away all thoughts of failure.  
  
"They weren't checking ID's so diligently last time I came down through this bridge," Mainframe remarked.  
  
"They must be hot after us," Zarana observed. "They know that you and I are together and that we might try to slip back into Manhattan. They're expecting us."  
  
"I'm sorry," Mainframe said as they neared the guards, "I should have waited a few days. But I had to get this intelligence to my buddies."  
  
"It's okay, we've got some excellent fake ID's," Zarana said, her mind racing, "and I think I have a plan in case we're spotted."  
  
Suddenly, both Zarana and Mainframe looked with alarm at the guards. One of them was Zartan himself!  
  
The Cobra guard and the two lovers were separated now by a distance of only twenty yards. Zartan, dressed in his black Cobra police uniform, had not yet spotted Mainframe and Zarana, but he was liable to look up any second and see them. Then it would be all over.  
  
"Ulp," Mainframe blurted out.  
  
"Keep your head down," Zarana hissed, "don't make eye contact until they speak to us."  
  
Zarana was wearing a brown wig of hair that fell down to her shoulders, and she was wearing heavy makeup. She prayed that it would be enough. She didn't think Zartan would recognize Mainframe right away, but she was worried that her brother would recognize her. The noonday sun beat down hard from above, and Zarana felt beads of sweat forming on her forehead.  
  
"Hold it," a Cobra Viper said, holding out his hand to stop Zarana and Mainframe. "Your papers, please."  
  
Zarana and Mainframe produced their identification papers. The Cobra Vipers nonchalantly looked them over. So far, so good. No one had gotten suspicious yet. Zartan, who was busy talking to another pedestrian, came over to see how things were going. It was at that moment that something about the brown-haired woman struck him. The woman standing next to this clean cut guy looked vaguely familiar.  
  
Zarana tried to avert her eyes and avoid eye contact, but Zartan peered at her suspiciously.  
  
"You there," he said, "Let me see your face."  
  
It was Zarana's turn to squeeze Mainframe's hand with acute anxiety. Zarana tried her best to hide the fact that her heart was racing a mile a minute as she turned slowly to face him. Brother and sister looked one another squarely in the eyes. Zarana felt as if the skin on her face was on fire from Zartan's intense scrutiny.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
Zarana stared at Zartan dumbly.  
  
"I asked a question, woman. Are you going to answer me?"  
  
Mainframe looked from Zarana, to Zartan, to the three armed Vipers standing around curiously, and then back to Zarana. This had potential disaster written all over it.  
  
"Manhattan," Zarana said dryly.  
  
A tense moment of silence followed the exchange. Zartan looked into Zarana's eyes once again, and in a flash, Zarana understood that he KNEW. Somehow, something in Zartan's blood told him that he was facing one of his own flesh and blood. Zarana knew that she had been caught red handed. There was only one thing left to do.  
  
Zartan reached out to grab Zarana, but Zarana was one step ahead of him. In an instant, Zarana delivered a side thrust kick straight into Zartan's abdomen. Zartan collapsed to the ground in agonizing pain, the wind knocked out of him by the punishing force of Zarana's kick.  
  
The other Vipers rushed Zarana, but Mainframe met one of them head on, knocked the weapon out of his hands, and punched him in the face. In the ensuing confusion, Zarana whipped out a handgun and shot the other two Vipers at point blank range.  
  
Zarana looked back toward her brother as she and Mainframe raced into lower Manhattan. Zartan was on his side, glaring at her and sputtering orders into a walkie talkie, evidently alerting nearby forces of their presence. All around them, people were running madly about for cover, terrified by the sounds of gunfire.  
  
"I'm sorry," Zarana whispered as she tore her eyes away from her brother.  
  
"Come on!" Mainframe urged her on. The two of them ran through the streets. The Cobra police response was amazingly fast. Already, police sirens were converging on them, their sounds approached from just one or two blocks away. From above, FANG choppers were hunting them down.  
  
"We'll never make it," Zarana said as she quickly assessed their danger. "The enemy will be here in seconds. You go on. I'll raise some hell and distract them."  
  
"No, we've got to stay together," Mainframe protested.  
  
"There's no time!" Zarana cried. "I'll be fine. They won't find me. But you have to tell me now, how will I find you?"  
  
Mainframe's mind was racing. He had just a few seconds to consider all the possible ways they could reestablish contact. All of them seemed dangerous. In a flash of inspiration, Mainframe hit upon what seemed the least dangerous of all of them.  
  
"The internet," Mainframe.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Send me an email!" Mainframe shouted.  
  
He told her his email address.  
  
Zarana shut her eyes and mouthed the characters again and again, trying to commit the address to memory.  
  
She opened her eyes again.  
  
"Now GO!" Zarana said. "And ditch that jacket."  
  
The sirens were so near now. It was now or never. Mainframe dug the disks out of his jacket pocket.  
  
Mainframe reached in, grabbed Zarana, and kissed her passionately for the last time. They pulled away from one another unwillingly, wondering if this was truly goodbye. They had found each other and experienced so much happiness in one night together. It couldn't end this way. They were supposed to spend the rest of their lives together. There was so much emotion, condensed and stuffed into a single moment in time. Zarana had no words to express the depth of her longing for him or how much it tore her heart to be parted from him again. With all her remaining strength, Zarana pushed Mainframe away, sending him running in a northeast direction.  
  
"I love you!" Zarana shouted after him. Mainframe turned his head to acknowledge her for a second, and in an instant, he disappeared around the corner of the block, the discarded jacket lying in the gutter.  
  
Zarana took off running in a northwest direction, firing her pistol at the Cobra policemen who had arrived on the scene and were now in hot pursuit. She managed to drop two of them. Several other policemen leapt out of their cars and took cover, angling for firing position. The police were closing in on her from all sides. The choppers hadn't yet found her in the mass confusion of people running around in the streets below. It was Zarana's window of opportunity. Amidst the crowd of panicked civilians, Zarana ducked behind an empty newsstand and tossed her brown wig into the trash. She quickly put on a long blond wig, donned a gray shirt over her blue one, tucked her pistol into the waistband of her pants, and tossed away her purse. Emerging from the newsstand, Zarana noted the confused officers trying to make their way through the crowded sidewalks and congested streets. They had lost sight of her, but they were certain that she was in the area. For Zarana, it was all she needed to escape. She ran straight uptown, weaving her way through the other fleeing bystanders and clearing the police dragnet that had encircled her.  
  
When Zarana was clear, she stopped to catch her breath. She was in the heart of New York's Chinatown. The citizens walking around her were perturbed by the disturbance evidently taking place further downtown but not overtly panicked. No one noticed her or paid her the slightest attention. Zarana thought of Mainframe. She hoped he had made it out safely as well.  
  
Somehow, Zarana thought to herself. Somehow we'll find one another again.  
  
I promise. 


	11. Memories of Mara

It took only a few seconds, but the fall felt like forever.  
  
Shipwreck, arms flailing about, hurtled backward off the Golden Gate Bridge, into the waters of the bay. The cold water stung Shipwreck, and with a jolt, he jerked his body about, looking for the nearest shore. There was no sound but the rushing waters, the roar of the Rattlers overhead, and somewhere, dimly, was Cover Girl calling out his name. She had seen him fall.   
  
He'd loved Cover Girl, of course. She was the sister he had never had, the friend he had longed for in his loneliest moment. She was the woman he wanted to hold in his arms and share his dreams with. She was his all in all. How many times had he stood on the deck of some naval ship and gazed at the vast ocean extending into infinity and wondered, would there ever be a special someone at his side to share moments like these?   
  
He'd loved her, but she didn't love him. That's just the way it went, he supposed. That was his lot in life. Would he ever see her again? Was this goodbye?  
  
The thoughts ran through his mind like an incoherent blur as his body instinctively swam with every last bit of strength for land. Finally, after ten minutes of frenzied swimming, Shipwreck turned over onto his back and floated for a while. He was so close to land, yet unable to traverse the final distance. Was this how it would end? His heart was pounding in his chest, pumping his lifeblood furiously through his arteries, trying desperately to sustain him. He felt himself grow weak from the stress and pass out.  
  
***  
  
When Shipwreck came to, he was lying on the rocky shore, looking into the eyes of a woman he felt he'd seen before. The woman had long raven black hair, angular facial features, and piercing blue eyes. Like a hazy image from a dream, the woman's figure danced before him like a smoldering flame. Could it be?   
  
"Mara?"   
  
The woman was evidently startled by what Shipwreck had said, because she stared intently into his eyes.   
  
"What did you just call me?" she said.  
  
"Mara. Is it really you?"  
  
Shipwreck coughed. He felt a bit delirious from his physical exhaustion, and his consciousness waxed and waned by the second. He struggled to hold onto lucid thought. Was this a dream? It could be a dream. It could be like that time Cobra had captured him and fooled him, using synthoids, into thinking that he and Mara had married and raised a beautiful little daughter.   
  
No, it was nothing but a dream. Mara was gone. He would never see her again, even if she were still alive. Shipwreck shook his head, trying to clear his mind. His thoughts were so heavy; his emotions weighed down on him oppressively. One thing was clear, though-he would never allow himself to be fooled by Cobra like that again. Never again.  
  
"It can't be, I'm dreaming this," Shipwreck said loosely.  
  
The woman motioned for Shipwreck to be quiet as she hurriedly dragged him further inland. She lay him to rest behind a large steel beam. They were beneath a section of the Golden Gate Bridge.  
  
They were quiet for a while. Rattler planes flew overhead, launching missiles at the bridge. The woman peered around the edge of the bridge support, and she saw Cobra transport ships converging on the San Francisco bay area. Shipwreck roused himself to shift his position and take a look with the woman at what was going on.   
  
A flash of lightning and the roll of thunder caught Shipwreck's attention, and he looked to the skies. It had been sunny before. How had the weather gotten so bad, so suddenly? An enormous barrage of lightning hit the San Francisco metropolitan area, setting off large fires in many areas of the city. The sounds of bombs exploding and gunfire could be heard all along the Golden Gate bridge and elsewhere in the city. Shipwreck imagined that the Joes and the National Guard were fighting with Cobra at this very moment. Rattlers streamed overhead, while flight pods came in from the transport ships and descended upon the city like a swarm of angry locusts.  
  
"No, it can't be," Shipwreck whispered in alarm.  
  
He shuddered. The battle raged on around them, but the two of them were stuck. There was no place safe in the city, right now. They would have to wait until the battle was over.  
  
The woman took notice, and she took off her jacket, handing it to Shipwreck.  
  
"You're cold, take this," she said.  
  
Shipwreck thanked her.  
  
"You still haven't told me your name," he said.  
  
"My name is Margaret," the woman said softly, looking intently at him.  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Pleased to meet you."  
  
"You called me Mara earlier. Why?"  
  
"I knew a woman named Mara once," Shipwreck said. "She looked a lot like you. She used to be in Cobra. They did a horrible experiment on her."  
  
Shipwreck looked hard at Margaret.  
  
"You look like her, but you're not her," he concluded sadly.  
  
"No, I'm not," Margaret said. "I'm her sister."  
  
Margaret began telling her story. They were sisters in a small town in northern California, and when they were young, both their parents were killed in a car crash. A young business man approached their foster parents shortly after the tragedy and offered free education, room and board.  
  
"We'll take care of everything," he said.  
  
"He was from Cobra," Margaret said, "and he was recruiting us into their organization. At the time, Cobra was penetrating our town, winning over citizens discontented with the government and winning the hearts and minds of the children. They took us in and brought us up. They raised us to be loyal to Cobra Commander. They told us we would never be poor or hungry again.  
  
"When I was twelve, Mara was sixteen, and there was a call for volunteers for a new series of experiments. They told us that the experiments would give us powers we had never dreamed of. The world would be at our feet. All we had to do was give our bodies over to the Cobra scientists, and we would reap the rewards. I was too young, but Mara was not. She volunteered."  
  
***  
  
The two sisters sat on a log on the beach and stared at the ocean in the moonlit night.   
  
"I'm going to do it," Mara said. "They say I'm going to become a mermaid."  
  
Margaret looked aghast at her sister. A mermaid?  
  
"Why would you want to do that to yourself? You're beautiful the way you are."  
  
Mara smiled and put an arm around her sister.  
  
"All our lives, we've been poor and ordinary little girls. This is my chance to do something big and important. How many times have we sat on this log and looked at the ocean, sis? How many times did we come out here and ask ourselves, I wonder if our parents are out there somewhere? When I become a mermaid, imagine the power and freedom I'll have. There's a whole world out there under the sea, and I'll be able to discover it."  
  
"Will it hurt?"  
  
"They say it won't be painful at all. And I can go back to being a human if I want."  
  
Margaret looked dubiously at her sister. She didn't know how to argue with a deal like that. Actually, it sounded pretty sweet. Mara was about to embark on a great adventure. She would be just like Ariel in that movie, The Little Mermaid. That was a pretty good movie.  
  
***  
  
"I saw Mara after the experiments were over," Margaret said to Shipwreck as they shivered together in the cold afternoon air. "I snuck into the labs late one night and found a dozen separate tanks with mermaids and mermen immersed inside. When I found the one with my sister inside, I tapped on the glass and woke her up. She was completely naked, and her lower body was like a fish. There were all these tubes stuck in her."  
  
***  
  
"Oh, sis, what have they done to you?" Margaret whispered. In the dim light of the lab, Margaret and Mara looked sadly at one another through the thick pane of glass. Mara was in terrible pain. She wriggled her lower fish-like body, and each movement brought a fresh stab of intense agony to her. The pain reflected itself in the horrible grimace on Mara's face. Mara opened her mouth and tried to speak, but of course she was immersed in water, and there was no sound. Margaret studied the gill slits in the sides of Mara's neck with horrified fascination. The gill slits fluttered slowly with each movement that Mara made.  
  
There were tears in Margaret's eyes.  
  
"You shouldn't have done it," Margaret whispered. "I don't care what they said, you shouldn't have done it."   
  
Mara was trying to speak again.  
  
I'm sorry, she mouthed.  
  
Mara shut her eyes from the pain and pressed a hand against the glass. From the other side, Margaret pressed her hand to the glass, as well.  
  
Go, Mara said.  
  
"What?" Margaret said, dumbfounded.  
  
Go, Mara repeated emphatically, waving about in the water with her other hand.   
  
Get out of here. Get out of Cobra. Don't ever come back.  
  
"But you're my sister," Margaret said, crying now. "I love you."  
  
There was a long silence as Margaret and Mara stared into each other's eyes.  
  
Goodbye, Mara's mouth said silently. I love you too.  
  
***  
  
"I left that lab in a hurry," Margaret said. "I stuffed my things into a backpack and ran out of that city as fast as I could. I never once looked back. I was alone in the world now. I was on my own."  
  
Shipwreck thought about what Margaret had said. He tried to picture how it must have felt that night, being thrown out into the world on your own.   
  
"Gee, I know the feeling," Shipwreck muttered.  
  
"Do you ever look out at the sea and wonder about the people you love?"  
  
"Yes," Shipwreck said. "I'm a sailor. I wonder about things like that all the time."  
  
All the time. I wonder about Mara. I wonder about my friends in G.I. JOE. But most of all, I wonder about you, Cover Girl. I wonder if you're doing okay. You're always with me, even if you don't know it.  
  
"Sometimes," Margaret said, "I still come out to the shore here, and look at the ocean, and think about my sister. I mean, I live in a different place now and everything, but it's near the ocean. And that's important to me. Because I know that Mara is out there, somewhere, and I hope she's free like she always wanted. But it must be lonely for her. That's one thing I'll bet she never considered all those years ago. The loneliness. And I keep wishing that she'll swim up to me and know me and know that even after all this time, I haven't stopped loving her."  
  
Margaret looked wistfully at the ocean again. Around them, the fires burned brightly throughout the city. The sounds of gunfire, explosions, and the cries of wounded men and women seemed less loud than it had a half hour ago.  
  
"Do you know what happened to her?" Margaret said.  
  
"I last saw her on an island called Kona Tonga, in the south Pacific," Shipwreck said. "She was free of Cobra. I like to think she's still there, swimming freely about the ocean."  
  
"That's a nice thought," Margaret said.  
  
***  
  
That had all happened about a year ago. It felt like an eternity, wandering the country alone. Within days of that battle in San Francisco, Cobra had triumphed over the United States armed forces and with it, toppled the government. How many cities and small towns did Shipwreck have to pass through, how many Cobra checkpoints? He wondered every day if he would be caught and killed. He wondered where his friends were. Somehow, he knew he had to get back to the East Coast. The G.I. JOE headquarters was in Staten Island in New York City. Maybe if he got back to New York, he would find his buddies.  
  
But it was all in vain, he reflected as he stood anonymously amidst the throng of people gathered along Seventh Avenue in midtown Manhattan, watching the leadership of Cobra parade through the city in celebration of their victory. Seated in a large open limousine behind a large bulletproof bubble shield, Cobra Commander, Destro, and the Baroness waved at their legions of admiring servants. Behind the leaders, columns of STUNs as well as squads of Vipers and Cobra troopers on foot marched to the martial tune of The Cobra Anthem, composed by Cobra's poet laureate, Major Bludd.   
  
THE COBRA ANTHEM  
  
Oh, say can you slither  
By the tons of dead Joes  
That the Cobras have won  
We have conquered and plundered  
  
Whose broad scales and bright eyes  
Through the glorious fight  
Did exult, whoop and cheer,  
When the Joes we did sunder?  
  
And the lightning's white glare,  
Joe planes burning in air  
Gave proof through the night  
The Commander was there  
  
Oh, say does that red flag of Cobra yet wave  
Now the "land of the free"  
Is the home of the slaves!  
  
Shipwreck clenched his fists in anger as he listened to this travesty of an "anthem." He seemed to be the only one who cared. No one else in the crowd seemed to mind. They took all these insults to their national pride in stride. So the government of the U.S. was down. Big deal. Everyone just went about and did their business anyway. Those who didn't were ferreted out and either "reprogrammed" or outright killed.  
  
The parade formation stopped in Times Square, and Shipwreck craned his neck to see the large projection screens. The largest screen in the middle of Times Square showed what appeared to be the Statue of Liberty, covered by an enormous shroud. FANG choppers equipped with lines hooked into the shroud lifted up the giant cloth to reveal a statue of the Baroness.  
  
"Behold," Destro announced through loudspeakers, "The new and improved Statue of Liberty!"  
  
There was a murmur of shock in the crowd.   
  
"Hey, what gives?" someone near Shipwreck grumbled. "They fucked up the Statue of Liberty! That ain't right."  
  
"Who cares," another man next to him said. "The Baroness is one sexy hot chick! I'll pay to walk up her torch any day!"  
  
"You know what, you're right," the first man said. "Way to go! Hail Baroness!"  
  
And like a sitcom audience, the crowd applauded and cheered on cue for Cobra. 


	12. It Might Have Been

ONE YEAR AGO  
  
In the darkness of the night, the road ahead was as mysterious and uncertain as the future. Having abandoned their AWE Striker once they were safely out of the Washington, DC area, Cover Girl, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes were driving a stolen car to the rendezvous point in Philadelphia. The trip would take a few hours, and Cover Girl, sitting in the driver's seat, had nothing to do but stare at the road before her and watch the surrounding scenery flash by her indifferently. Snake Eyes and Scarlett weren't talking; that is, Scarlett wasn't in the mood to make conversation with either Cover Girl or Snake Eyes, who had saved her life, and Snake Eyes, sitting alone in the back seat, turned his head toward the window and pretended not to feel a thing. But Cover Girl knew that deep inside, Snake Eyes' heart was wounded. She knew how deeply Snake Eyes loved her, how deeply he had always loved her. He had always loved her, but she didn't love him. Somehow things never worked out between them. Cover Girl had always wondered about that.  
  
I've always thought of you as my amazing and beautiful friend.  
  
Shipwreck's words lingered in her memory. They had the power to conjure at once an image of the ocean, the waves softly battering on the weather- beaten shore. Cover Girl could see it all in her mind's eye as if it had all happened yesterday. She could see the two of them now, sitting together on that beach wall. She could see the pained look in Shipwreck's eyes. He wanted so much to be with her, to treasure her, to love her, but she had turned away from him and rejected him.  
  
Shipwreck! Shipwreck!  
  
Cover Girl's plaintive voice, desperately calling out Shipwreck's name from the Golden Gate Bridge, rang in her memory. She could see her friend falling helplessly from the bridge to the cold, icy waters below. Was this how Shipwreck would die? Was this how their friendship would end-with a cruel blow of fate? The thought that she would never see the blundering but well-meaning sailor again brought a surprising stab of fresh agony to her heart. He would die, alone and unloved. He would die a lonely death, scorned by the woman he loved more than life itself.  
  
I never even got to say goodbye, Cover Girl thought miserably to herself as she drove the car along the highway in gloomy silence. She glanced at Scarlett from the corner of her eye.  
  
Why, Cover Girl wanted to scream at her friend. Why don't you love Snake Eyes? Can't you see how devoted he is to you, how he would give up his life for you in a second, in spite of everything that's happened? How can you be so blind?  
  
* * *  
  
Once there was a time when everything might have turned out differently, wasn't there?  
  
Yes, Scarlett reflected to herself. It might have been.  
  
Scarlett could picture to herself what it must have been like at the moment when Snake Eyes was caught in the burst of flame, the searing agony of a fire that would take away his face and his voice. And she, Scarlett, was a part of it. Snake Eyes had been trying to rescue her from the stalled chopper at the moment when the other chopper had collided with it. Her memories were filled with moments of the two of them, together. How many times did Scarlett visit Snake Eyes in the hospital, when her friend's face was covered with bandages and she could see nothing but his piercing eyes? How many times did Scarlett plead with Snake Eyes to accept that her feelings toward him were genuine, not born from misplaced pity, but from true friendship? He turned away from her. She had confronted him that day on the dock, six months after the accident over the desert, and had put her hands on his shoulders.  
  
"I want you to know I'll always be there for you, if you'll let me," Scarlett had said.  
  
But there was no reply. Snake Eyes took her hands in his own, removed them from his shoulder, turned, and walked away, not looking back. Scarlett was left alone, wondering what this meant. They had been such good friends until the accident. He had shared so much of his pain with her, the pain of his losses. On the day they met, Snake Eyes had told her of how he had lost his entire family in a car crash on the day he came home from Vietnam. But now a rift had opened between them. They grew more and more distant. Snake Eyes shied away from her, as much as she tried to reach him. She never understood why he had turned away from her.  
  
I would have loved you, Snake Eyes. I would never have left your side. But you wouldn't let me love you. And I can't live like that, I'm sorry.  
  
* * *  
  
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO  
  
"Well, check out the new arrival," Cover Girl whispered to Scarlett as they sat in the lounge of G.I. JOE headquarters, watching TV. Several other Joes, including Ace, Roadblock, Snake Eyes, and Stalker were also present. They all turned to meet their new first sergeant.  
  
His name was Conrad Hauser, codename Duke, and he was just about the handsomest thing that Scarlett had ever seen. He was tall, with crystal blue eyes and short blond hair. Scarlett observed the way his army uniform complemented his muscular physique. She felt her pulse and her breathing quicken. After being introduced to the other Joes, Duke's gaze fell upon Scarlett, and their eyes met. Something in Duke's face changed as he regarded Scarlett with an appreciative look. In one quick glance, he could not have failed to notice her stunningly beautiful face, her flaming red hair, and the way her skintight uniform showed off her perfect, shapely body.  
  
"Call me Shana, uh, I mean, Scarlett," she said, forgetting herself for a moment and blushing to the roots of her hair.  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Scarlett," Duke said suavely, pretending not to notice the effect he was having on her. He made a mental note to ask her out the first chance he got.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlett noticed Snake Eyes turning his head away. I'm sorry, Snake Eyes, Scarlett thought to herself. You and I will always be friends. But this is different. I sense something is starting from this moment, and nothing will ever be the same.  
  
It seemed that suddenly, Scarlett and Duke were inseparable. They did everything together; they were like peas and carrots. They fought against Cobra by day and hung out with each other, eating out and watching movies by night. Scarlett found in Duke a man who was perfectly attentive to her needs and was always interested in her. He delighted in hearing even the most prosaic (at least Scarlett thought so) stories about Scarlett and her life.  
  
Then came the night when everything changed. Walking her to her room, Duke leaned in and kissed her for the first time. Scarlett put her arms around him and kissed him back passionately. She felt something stirring in her loins, and she knew that Duke was feeling the same thing too, and at that moment, they knew that they needed each other more than ever. They hungered for each other with a lust that knew no bounds. And at that moment, Scarlett knew that she would throw it all away. She would take the risk of discovery and expulsion, because she loved him.  
  
"I want you," Scarlett breathed as she opened the door and let him into her darkened bedroom. "I want you inside of me."  
  
With mounting urgency, they removed their clothes bit by bit, fumbling about with their zippers and buttons. Neither could contain the anticipation of the thrill in tasting their forbidden fruit. They lay on the bed, separated from one another by inches, and Scarlett could see and feel Duke's hard and rigid member. She gasped as Duke's hands explored the valleys and ridges of her body, and she squirmed in delight as she felt his hungry mouth kissing and sucking on her flesh with wild abandon. Finally, at the moment when their bodies were pressed together and Duke was inside her, pumping with a furious, rhythmic motion, Scarlett thrust her hips against her lover's, and she screamed.  
  
And when they had exhausted themselves with the fury of their sex, and Scarlett lay flat on her back and gazed at the moon through her window blinds, she pictured Snake Eyes. He was sitting alone somewhere, perhaps in his own room, watching the very same moon. She imagined what he would feel if he knew that she and Duke were now lovers. Would he feel the slightest bit of envy, knowing there was another man out there who had seen and done what he was never able to do? Would he wish that he, too, could see Scarlett naked and share in her erotic pleasure?  
  
He must, Scarlett thought.  
  
And even though she had always felt as if she had done nothing to hurt Snake Eyes, deep in her heart, Scarlett felt a pang of guilt. She could not free herself from the vague feeling of having betrayed her old friend. 


	13. Rendezvous

The Battle of Washington, DC is over. The Joes are broken and defeated. Who is left to carry on the fight?  
  
ONE YEAR AGO  
  
Slowly, one by one, the surviving Joes entered Suite 314 of the nondescript Arlington hotel at the pre-appointed day and time. It had been four days now since the disastrous fight with Cobra. In the massive Battle of Washington, DC, many Joes had been killed. Lady Jaye, sitting next to Flint on a sofa, watched the other Joes filter into the room, looking dispirited and discouraged. She had a sinking feeling; her heart felt like it was sinking into her stomach. On the night of that battle, Lady Jaye had had a sense that many of her good friends and teammates had been killed. Still, she was unprepared for the sight that greeted her. The sheer lack of numbers among her comrades stunned her.  
  
Eleven Joes.  
  
How was it possible that only eleven Joes had managed to escape? Lady Jaye looked around the room and saw Flint, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Cover Girl, Beach Head, Mainframe, Dial Tone, Grunt, Clutch, and Low-Light, all dressed in civilian clothing, looking somber. Beach Head wore a bandage around his bloodied head. He looked so different without that mask of his. His features were angular and sharp, like the piercing eyes of his that could stop your heart just by looking at you, and he had close-cropped black hair. Grunt had a bandage wrapped around his arm. Everyone else looked relatively unscathed.  
  
What about the other Joes, Lady Jaye wondered. Surely they hadn't all been killed? Surely some of them were still alive, perhaps wounded. Some of them were probably being tortured at this very moment.  
  
Lady Jaye shut her eyes. The image of Steeler falling from her flight pod, into the Potomac River and into Cobra's hands flashed through her mind. The memory of that event was still fresh and painful. She'd left him behind. Didn't they say in G.I. JOE that "we all go home, or no one goes home?"  
  
"Is this all?" Lady Jaye choked out. The other Joes looked at her in sad silence.  
  
"Yup," Low-Light said, breaking the silence at last.  
  
Flint stood up. Hawk and Duke were gone. It was up to him now to lead the Joes and take back the country they had lost.  
  
"Friends," Flint said, "We've lost a lot of good Joes. I know that nothing can replace the pain of their loss. I know for me, it's like a great big void in my heart that I can't describe. It's like something's been torn out my own body, a piece of myself. There's so much pain, but even worse than that is the regret. Sometimes when we think of friends we've lost, we regret that we didn't appreciate them more when they were living. You live and you fight alongside someone everyday, taking them for granted almost, never conceiving that a day might come when they'll be gone, and you'll stare at the empty chairs and tables and have nothing but your own memories."  
  
Cover Girl sobbed audibly. Flint paused to glance in her direction. Low- Light, sitting next to Cover Girl, handed her a tissue, and Cover Girl murmured her thanks. No doubt Flint's words had struck a chord in her. It was time to come to the point. Flint went on.  
  
"There's only eleven of us in this room right now," Flint said, "but I promise you, I won't ever give up hope. And I know that you'll never give up either. We can't give up now."  
  
"So what are we supposed to do now?" Clutch said. "You're our leader now, Flint."  
  
Flint walked around the room, looking each of his teammates in the eye.  
  
"I have a plan," Flint said. "It will take an enormous amount of time and patience. We have to face the facts here. Cobra has won the battle, but they have not won the war. We still have each other. There are only eleven of us. We can't win by strength of numbers, so we must be shrewd, we must be cunning. Let Cobra think they've triumphed. Let them rape this country and establish their new order. We need to allow them time to establish a pattern, we need to study their patterns, and only then can we make our move."  
  
"I get what you're saying," Beach Head said, "and I agree so far. But you mind telling us what kind of move you've got in mind?"  
  
Flint smiled. They would strike at the head of Cobra. He planned for nothing less than the complete annihilation of Cobra's leadership. Without Cobra Commander and his top lieutenants, there would be no Cobra.  
  
There was a knock on the door. Everyone looked to the door in surprise. Was it another Joe, or was it an enemy spy?  
  
"Who is it?" Flint said.  
  
"Steeler."  
  
Flint motioned for everyone to hide, and the other Joes scattered around the room, hiding behind various pieces of furniture. Their guns were drawn and aimed at the door. Flint walked alone to the door and looked through the peep hole.  
  
Flint opened the door quickly, checked that Steeler was alone, and pulled him into the hotel room. Everyone emerged from hiding and walked toward Steeler.  
  
"Steeler!" Lady Jaye cried, running to him and embracing him. "I thought we'd never see you again."  
  
"Aw," Steeler said, "I'm a lot tougher than you think!"  
  
"Steeler, old pal," Grunt said as everyone sat down to have a round of celebratory drinks, "you have to tell us how you managed to get away."  
  
"It was a pretty daring escape, let me tell ya," Steeler grinned.  
  
* * *  
  
Alone with his thoughts, Steeler shut his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't. Over in the next room, Grunt and Clutch were snoring away. Flint had filled Steeler in on his plans. They would all meet up in a few days in Philadelphia. From there, they would hopefully establish new lives and adjust as best as they could to the new Cobra order. But not one of them would ever forget their duty.  
  
He could feel her warm body pressed against his. He was thinking of the Baroness, with those glasses, that long black hair, that leather black uniform. He thought of that perfect, tight body beneath that uniform. She'd given herself to him. She'd kissed him back and put her arms around him. He could still feel the warmth and wetness of her tongue in his mouth as he'd kissed her. She'd pressed her hips against his own, acknowledging her need for him. In her heart, she belonged to him now. He sensed that. The Baroness might not yet openly admit it, but her body told a different story. And he wanted her too, although he didn't want to admit it to a single soul. Thinking about her gave him an erection. He thought about her. He thought about all the things he wanted to do to her.  
  
No, Steeler thought to himself sadly. She's the enemy. She's one of them. If you see her in the street, you better shoot her dead before you can think twice.  
  
It was his duty. 


	14. The Traitor

18 MONTHS AGO  
  
Dusty checked again to make sure that no one was around. The night was pitch black, and cold. He was alone near the edges of the clearing of a large forest, bordering the premises of the Cobra temple. He had precious little time to activate the transponder and send an encrypted transmission to G.I. JOE headquarters.  
  
"Come in, G.I. JOE," Dusty said, his eyes darting around the area to scan for signs of Cobra sentries. "Come in. This is Dusty. Do you read me? Over."  
  
There was a brief burst of static, followed by Dial Tone's voice.  
  
"This G.I. JOE, we read you. What do you want, you stinking rat bastard son of a bitch? Over."  
  
Dusty shut his eyes and put a weary hand to his head. This was going to be a tough sell.  
  
"I need to speak to Flint. Put him on right now. Over."  
  
A brief pause ensued as Dial Tone, hundreds of miles away, scrambled to get Flint into the communications center of G.I. JOE headquarters. The portable radio crackled to life again as Flint came on.  
  
"Flint speaking. You should know that Duke died because of you. You've been formally disavowed. What have you got to say for yourself? Over."  
  
"Listen, Flint, I'm not a traitor. This isn't what it appears to be. I've only pretended to defect to Cobra in order to infiltrate their organization and discover their plans for mind control gas. It was all on Duke's orders. Over."  
  
"Sounds pretty convenient. Over."  
  
"It's true, I'm telling you! Duke was the only one that knew. What do I have to do to convince you? Over."  
  
"You can start by turning yourself in. Then you tell us everything you've found. And then, only then, we might consider the validity of your claims. Over."  
  
Dusty took a deep breath and swallowed hard. He would do it. Whatever it took, he had to get out of this mess that he'd found himself in, even if it meant possibly going to jail.  
  
The arrangements were made for Dusty to escape from Cobra and be picked up far away from the Cobra headquarters, in the middle of the Arizona desert. The plans were set right down to the exact time and geographic coordinates.  
  
"This is your only chance, Dusty. Come alone and be there on time. You foul this up, and there won't be a second chance. Over."  
  
* * *  
  
Returning to Cobra headquarters, Dusty stashed the portable radio device back in the proper storage area where he'd found it, breathed a sigh of relief at not having been caught, and headed for his private quarters. In five hours, he would somehow need to steal a Cobra vehicle and make his way to the Arizona desert by the crack of dawn. Dusty calculated that he would need to leave in five hours at the latest in order to have a chance to make his rendezvous with Flint.  
  
Carol Demming stood waiting for him outside of his room. Her head was bowed and her hands were behind her back, as if she'd been standing there waiting for him for a long time.  
  
Lieutenant Carol Demming. The same Demming who had been recruited by the Crimson Twins and had gotten her start mercilessly interrogating Shipwreck had rapidly risen up the ranks and become an eminently capable officer. She had a perfectly sculpted face and body, and she had a sharp and cunning mind. Dusty did not know why, but every time he saw her, he felt a funny feeling in his stomach, his heart pounded hard in his chest, and he experienced a stirring sensation in his groin. It was no different now as it had been on the day they'd met.  
  
* * *  
  
Dusty remembered that day well. He'd just defeated Lieutenant Claymore in personal combat, and after he had been confirmed as an officer in Cobra, he put on an act of machismo and bravado. He walked proudly around Cobra headquarters, doing his best to tell the other Cobras by his body language that he was the best there was.  
  
But Demming had not been moved by Dusty's outward façade. She recognized the trembling boy within the man, the boy who was fascinated by her but afraid to approach her.  
  
"Hello, O Great Savior of Cobra," Demming said sarcastically, "I don't think we've met."  
  
Demming offered her hand. Dusty gulped audibly as he looked her up and down, noticing how stunningly beautiful she was. What's a beautiful woman like her doing in a place like this?  
  
"I'm Dusty," Dusty said uneasily. "Former Joe who's seen the light."  
  
"Ah, Dusty, pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Carol Demming."  
  
"Tell me, Dusty," Demming said as she continued holding Dusty's hand and began sensuously rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb, "Do you think we can be friends?"  
  
They'd made love that night, the first of many nights. Dusty found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his mission. Sometimes he forgot himself, forgot that he was a G.I. JOE at all. Having sex with Demming became like a drug. He had to be with her; he was lost and unsatisfied without her. He fantasized during the day about all the delicious sexual things he would do with her when night came. And when they had satisfied their physical desire for one another, they would lie in bed together and talk for hours. Dusty enjoyed being with her and hearing her talk about her life. She had once been a doctor of medicine. She had once been a young, attractive professional psychiatrist with a bright future ahead of her and a fiance who loved her. And then one day she realized that nothing in her life was what she'd really wanted, that she didn't know what she really wanted, and that she was losing her emotional and spiritual connections to all that she once valued. She was tired of spending her whole life in service to others. It was time for her to take care of her own needs for once. That's when she turned to Cobra.  
  
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Dusty asked her.  
  
Demming shook her head. "Not really. Maybe that's life. Maybe I'll always be looking."  
  
Demming leaned over in the bed and lay herself on top of Dusty. Their faces were separated by mere inches, and her wet hair dangled against Dusty's face.  
  
"But it led me to you," Demming said fondly. "That has to be something, don't you think?"  
  
* * *  
  
It was midnight in Cobra, and Dusty lay awake in bed next to the woman who would one day become his wife. They had made love, only this time, Dusty made love to her with an urgency and a desire that startled her. It had been a long time since Dusty had shown such intense hunger for her, literally tasting every inch of her body as if for the last time, penetrating her at least four times. He clung to her and kissed her hard every time, he mumbled her name over and over, and his whole being was focused on pleasuring the woman he had grown to love almost against his will.  
  
Dusty looked over to Demming one last time. It was time to leave. He needed to find a way to steal some kind of flying vehicle. A flight pod would do. It was small and maneuverable and would cause less of a commotion than if he attempted to steal a FANG chopper. Shutting his eyes, Dusty kissed the sleeping Demming one last time on the cheek and turned to get out of bed.  
  
He felt a hand reach out and grasp his own at the last moment. He turned to look into the eyes of Carol Demming. She was awake, and she was holding onto Dusty's hand tightly.  
  
"Where are you going?" Demming asked.  
  
"What makes you think I'm going someplace? I mean, I just wanted to go take a leak, that's all."  
  
Demming shook her head.  
  
"No," she said gently, "I know you're going to leave this place altogether. I could feel it, Dusty. I know you. I know you made love so intensely to me because it was for the last time. Look in my eyes and tell me I'm wrong."  
  
Dusty trembled. Once again, he felt like a schoolboy. There was no dissembling with this woman. He'd always known that.  
  
"Carol," Dusty said, "I-I have to go."  
  
At that moment, Dusty knew that Demming had seen right through him. He knew that she knew he was intending to leave Cobra and return to the Joes. What surprised him was Demming's calmness and tenderness.  
  
"I know you have your reasons," Demming said. "Perhaps I even know your reasons myself. If you must leave, then go. I won't try to stop you. I won't tell anyone."  
  
Demming pulled Dusty's hand closer to her and pressed it against her face. Dusty could feel the moisture of Demming's newly formed tears.  
  
"I love you," Demming said simply, releasing her grip on Dusty's hand.  
  
Dusty stood up and looked at her, sitting up in the bed. A million thoughts were running through his mind at this moment. But one overriding thought came to him again and again.  
  
He loved Carol Demming.  
  
Dusty sat back down on the bed, took Demming's face in his hands, and kissed her fiercely.  
  
"I can't do it," he said with despair, "I can't leave you."  
  
Demming smiled and wiped away her tears.  
  
"We'll be alright," she said. "We have each other. That's all we need."  
  
* * *  
  
THE PRESENT DAY  
  
The Cobra hospital was so clean and white. At the north end of the nineteenth floor, an old woman recovering from an episode of an asthma exacerbation breathed calmly with the help of an oxygen-delivering nasal canula. She was receiving the best possible medical care.  
  
Cobra would do nothing less for the mother of Dusty.  
  
When Dusty had gone over to Cobra's side, his mother had been devastated. But Cobra went to great lengths to convince Dusty's mother that he had not, in fact, betrayed his country, but that he was in fact a national hero. They'd whisked her from her suburban home and brought her, without her knowledge, into the middle of the Cobra community. They'd fed her false information about the events of the last 18 months, and Dusty's role in it. Everyone in Cobra was in on the elaborate charade.  
  
Dusty and Demming walked down the hallway of the nineteenth floor and found the room they sought. Inside, Flint was talking to Dusty's mother. Apparently, he was explaining how Dusty, the hero who had risked his life to penetrate Cobra and continued the valiant fight against Cobra even after the decisive defeat at Washington, DC, had found true love and gotten married at last.  
  
Everyone but Dusty's mother knew that this wasn't Flint at all, but only Zartan masquerading as Flint. "Flint" cheerfully left the room upon seeing Dusty and Demming.  
  
Dusty and Demming walked into the hospital room, hand in hand, and Dusty's mother's eyes lit up when she saw the two of them together.  
  
"Oh, my wonderful son and his lovely wife. I'm so sorry I was too sick to make the wedding."  
  
Dusty sat down next to his mother's bed and took her hand.  
  
"It was a beautiful wedding, mom, you would have loved it," Dusty said, forcing a smile.  
  
Demming gently nudged her husband to remind him of something. Dusty's eyes lit up as he remembered.  
  
"Oh yeah, mom, we have something more to tell you. Carol's expecting."  
  
Dusty's mother opened her mouth wide in shock.  
  
"Oh goodness. Oh my."  
  
"I know this is a lot of news to be laying on you in such a short time, but we've been so busy, and it's so hard to find time to see you with Cobra chasing us around all the time."  
  
"I'm so happy. When is the baby due?"  
  
"It won't be for another seven months. We just found out."  
  
"Dusty, I'm so proud of you. You know, I'm near the end of my life. I've lived my life. You have so much ahead of you, so many wonderful things. I'm so glad to see you've found someone to share your life with."  
  
"Thanks, mom."  
  
Dusty hugged her tight, and his eyes darted to Demming's, who sat next to him by the bedside. They exchanged a meaningful, knowing look. This was the price that Dusty paid for the happiness of his mother. It was a lie, but anything was better than knowing your son was a traitor who helped bring down his own country and even now worked to destroy the very men and women he had once fought alongside with.  
  
It was a high price to pay, and Dusty struggled with his conscience, or whatever remained of it, every day. But there was nothing more he could do. He could not change the past. He had had his one chance at redemption, and he'd blown it. He'd thrown it away for the chance to love Carol Demming.  
  
We'll be all right. We have each other. That's all we need.  
  
Demming's words echoed through his head, the very words she'd spoken to him on that fateful night eighteen months ago. It wasn't a great life by any means, but it was enough.  
  
It would have to be enough. 


	15. The Spy

THE PRESENT DAY  
  
Lady Jaye and Steeler stood before the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, in the pouring rain. Dressed in dark trench coats and holding up umbrellas, they reflected on the impassive wall and the names of Americans engraved there. It was the first time that either of them had returned to the area where, one year ago, the Joes had made their last stand against Cobra. Now, citizens walking through the Washington Mall area could admire a new monument. Next to the Washington Monument stood a giant marble sculpture of Cobra Commander stepping over the dead body of General Hawk.  
  
Today, Lady Jaye and Steeler were nothing more than ordinary citizens of the Cobra empire. But they dreamed of one day overthrowing that empire. It was time to set Flint's desperate plan into motion. Although Dial Tone had been killed, Mainframe had managed to escape the Dreadnok enforcers and bring back critical intelligence regarding Cobra's base of operations. The information stored on the disks Mainframe had retrieved revealed the locations of Cobra's major bases of operations, as well as the locations of some of their major weapons facilities, including Cobra's three weather dominators.  
  
But it wasn't enough. Flint needed to know more. He needed to learn more about the movements of Cobra Commander and Destro. To that end, the Joes needed an inside man, someone to penetrate Cobra and find the information that Flint wanted.  
  
"Are you sure about this?" Lady Jaye asked one last time. "If you don't want to do it, we'll find another way."  
  
"No, I'll do it," Steeler said. Beneath his trench coat, Steeler wore the stolen blue uniform of a Cobra infantryman.  
  
"I'm the man for the job. I'm the only one who's actually been inside one of Cobra's bases and lived to talk about it. I did it before. I can do it again. I told Flint I would do it. You can count on me, Lady Jaye."  
  
Lady Jaye and Steeler walked away from the area of the Mall and headed for the direction of the White House. They were silent as they traversed the short distance. When they came within a few blocks, they found themselves outside of a giant concrete wall. Beyond that wall stood a giant Cobra fortress, the Cobra Ziggurat, which had been built where the White House had once stood. The Cobra Ziggurat was constructed of four concrete towers surrounding a giant concrete Cobra head. Lightning flashed across the dark sky, revealing the Cobra fortress in all its ugliness.  
  
"This is it," Steeler said as he and Lady Jaye closed their umbrellas and faced each other. They stood beneath the awning of a restaurant across the street.  
  
"Take care of yourself," Lady Jaye said as she hugged Steeler.  
  
With that, Steeler headed off for the series of security checkpoints that stood in the way of access to Cobra's secrets.  
  
The first checkpoint was no problem. Steeler got into line with the other Cobra agents, put on his mask and helmet, and prepared to show the phony ID badge that Mainframe had made for him. So far so good.  
  
Once inside the large wall, Steeler was asked for the password. This password was specific for the Washington fortress and was changed monthly. Steeler successfully recited the password, silently thanking Mainframe for his excellent hacking skills.  
  
From inside the stone gate, an elevator descended ten levels into a large subterranean tunnel that led to the heart of the Ziggurat. To his dismay, Steeler discovered that there was a third and final checkpoint, which all entering personnel were required to pass.  
  
One by one, the Cobra soldiers lined up in front of a large binocular appearing device that hung suspended from the ceiling by thin metal wires that moved the device up and down to adjust for the height of each individual. It was a retinal scan.  
  
A retinal scan?  
  
What the hell was this? It must be something that Cobra just recently developed and implemented, Steeler realized. There was no other way that Mainframe could have failed to find out such a hugely important piece of information.  
  
There were two soldiers in line in front of Steeler. He was beginning to sweat. If he were to be discovered now, before his mission had even begun, it would be disastrous. And here he was, so far underground and beyond the help of Lady Jaye. Great. I'm royally screwed, Steeler thought as his turn came up and the retinal scanner descended to the level of his eyes.  
  
There was a bright flash and Steeler felt a sharp stinging sensation in his eyes. Within seconds, it was over, and Steeler was about to walk off when the guard grabbed him by the shoulder.  
  
"Wait a minute, trooper," the guard said. "You're not done yet."  
  
Steeler glanced around the tunnel. He was truly surrounded by Cobra soldiers. Fighting his way out was out of the question.  
  
* * *  
  
Within the Cobra fortress, a tall, slender, brown-haired Cobra lieutenant named Layla was standing in the security control room, supervising the Tele- Vipers who were manning the control consoles.  
  
"What's going on?" Layla said.  
  
"We may have a possible breach in security," a Tele-Viper informed her. "We have a trooper whose retinal scan does not match with anyone in our personnel records. Shall I have him arrested and shot?"  
  
"Not yet," Layla said. Something about this man looked vaguely familiar.  
  
"Have him remove his mask and helmet and face the camera."  
  
The Tele-Viper radioed his instructions to the guards manning the security checkpoint, down in the entrance tunnel. Within moments, the unknown soldier slowly removed his mask and helmet and turned to face camera 14D.  
  
Among the array of camera monitors filling the room, Layla focused her attention on 14D. That face-she HAD seen him before! But where?  
  
There was a tense silence as everyone turned to Layla, waiting on her next word. Layla searched her memories, finding at last the image of a solitary Joe bound in chains in the dungeon. Layla's direct superior, the Baroness, had spent some time with this Joe, interrogating him. Layla knew that the Baroness had some strange attraction for this one Joe, although she had never directly admitted it as such. But Layla knew the truth; she had seen firsthand, how the Baroness and Destro had been drifting apart over the past year. Destro was obsessed with inventing increasingly destructive weapons, and he paid less attention to the Baroness. Rumor had it Destro even had his own lovers. So the Baroness, who even at the height of personal power suffered from the pain of loneliness, was drawn to this man, the Joe they called Steeler.  
  
"What shall we do, Lieutenant?"  
  
Layla smiled. The Baroness would certainly be pleased to know that Steeler had returned.  
  
"Let him through," Layla said. "I know this man. It's obviously a mistake. We'll catalogue his retinal scan for future reference."  
  
And just like that, Steeler was off the hook. He donned his mask and helmet and moved on, little suspecting that he had been recognized, but that he had been deliberately released.  
  
* * *  
  
It was a rough first day for Steeler. He was forced to quickly learn the daily routine of a Cobra trooper, a rigidly regimented schedule, which mainly consisted of a lot of drills, exercises, inspections, and patrols. At the end of the day, Steeler was finally free to go to bed. His room was a small bedroom, of size 10 feet by 14 feet, with minimal furnishings. It was like a little prison cell. There was a community bathroom on the floor, along with a small kitchen.  
  
Steeler walked into his room and shut the door. He breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to his bed, ready to turn in for the night. He had a long way to go before he could find a way to discover the information Flint required.  
  
"What the hell?" Steeler nearly cried as he saw the Baroness sitting on his bed, waiting for him. She was dressed in her standard black uniform, with the Cobra seal centered on her chest.  
  
The Baroness stood up and faced him. From a distance of a few feet, the two faced each other. The Baroness smiled.  
  
"So we meet again, Steeler. I'm surprised that, after all the trouble you went through to escape here one year ago, you've turned around and come back."  
  
"How the hell did you find me so quickly?"  
  
"You poor, foolish boy," the Baroness said. "How do you think you were able to pass the retinal scan?"  
  
Steeler stared at her, his jaw dropping. So that was how he'd gotten through.  
  
"A loyal subordinate recognized you and let you through," the Baroness explained. "I've been so looking forward to meeting you again. We have so much to discuss, not the least of which being, what are you trying to accomplish by coming here to spy on us?"  
  
The Baroness took a step forward.  
  
Steeler whipped out his handgun and pointed it at the Baroness, point blank.  
  
"I'll blow your head off, lady, I swear to God," Steeler declared.  
  
"Oh please, Steeler," the Baroness laughed jovially. "Don't make me laugh. You won't get anywhere by shooting me in the head. Your life is entirely in my hands now. I could turn you in at any moment and have you shot. You'd die a most ignominious death. But that won't happen to you, my dear."  
  
"And why not?" Steeler demanded.  
  
The Baroness began undoing the buttons of her uniform, one by one. Steeler's hand trembled as he held the gun. He felt his throat go dry as he watched the Baroness, which each button undone, reveal more and more of her skin, pearly and white and flawless.  
  
"Let me tell you why I'm in Cobra. I'm only in it for the power. I'm in it for myself. We live in a morally ambiguous age, my G.I. JOE friend. There's no such thing as loyalty to one's country and people anymore. You could be here to assassinate Cobra Commander, and I wouldn't give two shits about what happens to that blustering moron. There's a time for everything, a time for war and peace, a time for life and death. All things come to an end, and this current state of political affairs, this ridiculous Cobra Empire, is no exception. Hitler declared his would last a thousand years, but it ended after just twelve. I'm just one woman, one cog in the wheel, playing the game for every advantage I can get while the getting is good."  
  
The Baroness had completely unbuttoned the top part of her uniform, and she dropped it to the floor. Steeler felt his eyes unwillingly drawn to the Baroness's lacy red bra. Slowly, the Baroness, with a lustful glint in her eyes, reached around her back and performed the time-honored motion of unhooking her bra straps.  
  
Oh my goodness, Steeler thought to himself. He could hardly believe the Baroness was in his bedroom, stripping for him. He was unable to look away from the Baroness now that she was about to reveal her voluptuous breasts to him.  
  
"What has this got to do with me?" Steeler finally managed.  
  
The Baroness was now naked from the waist up. Steeler looked her up and down, noticing her slender waist, her ample breasts, her perfectly formed nipples, the smooth contours of her neck, and that face. That beautiful, lovely face. Her glasses were gone now. She looked across the short distance separating them with a look of sadness and vulnerability.  
  
"I'm lonely," the Baroness said simply.  
  
"Don't come any closer," Steeler said.  
  
"You won't shoot me," the Baroness said. "You want me, and I want you. Why throw this pleasure away?"  
  
The Baroness closed the distance between them and gently took the gun from Steeler's hand. She placed it on the nearby desk. Turning to a shocked Steeler, the Baroness backed him against the closed door and extended her arms to press her hands against the door and fence him in.  
  
"Make love to me," the Baroness whispered urgently, "please."  
  
With that, she kissed Steeler fiercely, with as much power as the first time they had kissed, when their positions had once been reversed and it had been Steeler who had disarmed the Baroness and kissed her. The kiss grew in intensity, and Steeler put his arms around her naked back. Their tongues invaded each other's mouths as they satisfied their long suppressed hunger for each other. His thoughts were in a disorderly mess; he could think of nothing but the Baroness's naked chest pressed against his, and the bulging hardness in his groin that would need release very soon.  
  
These damn clothes, Steeler thought desperately. Got to get them off. He tore his shirt off and hastily unbuckled his pants, while the Baroness backed off a little, watching him undress with animal anticipation. Steeler looked the Baroness in the eye, possessed by mounting desire. He advanced on the Baroness like a tiger advancing on his prey, and he grabbed her and kissed her again, leading her backwards to the bed. They tumbled onto the bed, the Baroness underneath Steeler, who broke off his kiss to begin exploring the rest of her body. His tongue trailed kisses over the Baroness's neck, breasts, and navel. Encountering the Baroness's black uniform pants, Steeler hastily undid her belt buckle and peeled down her pants and panties in one motion. He wanted to see the Baroness completely nude; he wanted to admire her body in all its glory.  
  
"Get it off," the Baroness whispered urgently. "Get it all off."  
  
She tugged at Steeler's boxers, and Steeler pulled them off quickly.  
  
Without another word, the two lovers joined as one, their bodies thrusting against one another. The Baroness marveled at how perfectly Steeler fit her, while Steeler was amazed at how warm and how wet the Baroness was. Their moans of pleasure mounted in urgency and volume, until they achieved their climax and release.  
  
The two lovers made love and talked long into the night. When they had at last exhausted themselves, Steeler could do nothing but hold the Baroness in his arms as they lay together in bed. He had no idea what would happen to him from this day on, but one thing was clear to him as he stared at the ceiling and recalled all the nights he had spent alone for the past year, dreaming of holding the Baroness in his arms. It frightened him as much as it titillated him.  
  
Could it be? Steeler wondered.  
  
Could it be that I love the Baroness? 


	16. Together

On the outskirts of west Philadelphia, a small, nondescript chapel stood amidst the modest row of lower rent apartment buildings. A cool autumn breeze gently blew the yellow and orange leaves across the sidewalk and street as the setting sun beamed its last rays of warmth over the quiet neighborhood. The place had never been very active, even before Cobra had taken over. In the old days, however, one could still see children playing catch in the streets. Now, the malevolent hand of Cobra seemed to reach everywhere, draining the joy and spontaneity out of everything, even the most mundane events of everyday life.  
  
An event of great significance was taking place on this memorable day: the wedding of Flint and Lady Jaye. Neither of them had wanted the wedding to be a big affair. By necessity, it was impossible to have a big, elaborate wedding, like the one Lady Jaye had often fancied in her adolescence. The two of them could not even afford to have their wedding attended by all the known remaining survivors of G.I. JOE-all ten of them. It was far too dangerous for all the remaining Joes to stay together in one place; they could not afford to be captured by the enemy. If Cobra were to somehow learn the location of the Joes and apprehend them, it would mean the end of the game. And so, Lady Jaye and Flint had waited for Steeler to infiltrate Cobra headquarters, and for the other Joes to split up and head off for their respective destinations along the eastern seaboard, where they would watch and wait for their moment to come together once again. They had gone off in teams of two or three. Only one such team remained with Lady Jaye and Flint to witness the wedding, and that team consisted of Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl.  
  
The minister's solemn words echoed throughout the nearly empty chapel. The last rays of sunlight filtering in through the stained glass windows before the altar fell upon the faces of Flint and Lady Jaye. Only Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl sat in the audience as witnesses to the occasion. Lady Jaye stood before the minister with her head bowed, listening to his words. The minister was a man none of the Joes even knew. It had to be that way out of necessity. The man spoke of such things as love, commitment, and faithfulness. They would share their lives with one another and honor one another. There were so many things on Lady Jaye's heart at that moment, she found the minister's words wholly inadequate. Finally, when the minister had stopped speaking and was about to utter to the groom those final words, "you may now kiss the bride," Lady Jaye looked up into the eyes of Flint. There was such emotion in those eyes. So many things that she knew that he wanted to say.  
  
"Ally," Flint said with those eyes, "I wanted so much for you. I wanted this to be a big, tremendous occasion, something to celebrate openly, not something done on the sly. I'm sorry we had to get married this way. But I'm so glad, Ally. I'm so glad that after all the adventures we've been through, the good times and the bad, you're still here with me. I love you so much."  
  
Lady Jaye spoke out loud, breaking the momentary silence. The minister stood quietly by.  
  
"Dash," she said, her eyes never leaving his, "I wish everyone could be here today-all our friends, teammates, and family. But I want you to know that your love is enough for me. We've fallen on hard times, you and me, our three friends here today, and everyone else, but we have each other. I know I wouldn't have the will to keep on going, if it weren't for you. Our lives have gone through some pretty big changes, and we have been forever changed. I know I don't look it, but I'm so afraid. Afraid of the future, that something terrible will happen. But with you at my side, I can face the future, no matter what happens. I'm so grateful. From this day on, our life together truly begins. We'll love and honor each other the way we were always meant to, from the day we first met."  
  
From her pew, Cover Girl heard Lady Jaye's words and felt herself deeply moved. While the minister uttered the final words that Flint and Lady Jaye were husband and wife, and that Flint could kiss the bride, Cover Girl looked to her side and stole a glance further down the pew at Scarlett and Snake Eyes. She could see that the marriage of Flint and Lady Jaye was having a powerful effect on them as well. She could tell just from the meaningful look that passed between the two old friends.  
  
It's so beautiful, Cover Girl thought to herself with wonder. She felt so privileged to be here. She always knew from the beginning that there was something, some kind of attraction between Flint and Lady Jaye. She always wondered when it would finally happen, when their love would find its fullest expression.  
  
Cover Girl found herself wishing for that kind of deep, loving, soulful relationship. It was something she had been missing all her life but never had been so acutely aware of until now. All her life, from her days in high school, to her days as a professional model, and then to her enlistment as a member of G.I. JOE, she had avoided close personal attachments. She had dated several men but had loved none of them. Now, against her will, her mind drifted to thoughts of Shipwreck. He had loved her; he'd even told her so, out there on the beach that day. She had turned him down that day and broken his heart.  
  
And now he was gone. She hadn't seen him in a year. Perhaps he was dead, killed during the Battle of San Francisco.  
  
I never even got to say goodbye.  
  
The thought gnawed at her relentlessly. It agonized her in her lonely, sleepless nights. Slowly, she had become conscious of a new feeling growing within her, one she could hardly understand. Did she really have feelings for Shipwreck after all? What had prevented her from admitting it to him? To herself?  
  
Maybe I was afraid. Afraid to love another.  
  
Cover Girl's eyes had returned to the newlyweds, walking hand in hand toward them, beaming with happiness. Even in the midst of the deepest valley, they found cause to celebrate, and for this brief, shining moment, Cover Girl found hope springing in her heart. She got up with Scarlett and Snake Eyes to congratulate Flint and Lady Jaye.  
  
If I ever see you again, Cover Girl thought, if I ever see your face and hear your voice again, I promise you everything will be different. Give me another chance, and I'll open my heart to you, Shipwreck. I promise.  
  
* * *  
  
The wedding over, the five friends joined together to enjoy a nice Italian dinner in downtown Philadelphia. They did their best to blend in with the rest of the civilians and avoid the watchful eyes of Cobra sentries posted throughout the city. No one could forget for a moment that Cobra still controlled the world. The Joes had a long and difficult road ahead of them. But for this one night, the five Joes enjoyed each other's company and forgot their troubles for a while.  
  
When they were done for the evening, the group split up and went their separate ways.  
  
"We'll see you soon, I hope," Scarlett said as she stood with Cover Girl and Snake Eyes.  
  
"Yes, it should be soon," Flint said. "I expect it will be a few more weeks before Steeler makes contact with us again."  
  
"And when that happens-" Cover Girl said.  
  
"We make our move," Flint finished.  
  
And so, Flint and Lady Jaye went one way, while Scarlett, Cover Girl, and Snake Eyes went another.  
  
Scarlett, Cover Girl, and Snake Eyes headed for a hotel in downtown Philadelphia. They would spend the night in the city, and then they would make their way at dawn to Baltimore. They could never stay in one place too long. They had to keep moving and stay under the Cobra radar.  
  
While Cover Girl slept, Scarlett looked up from her side of the twin bed and saw Snake Eyes standing before the window, peering through the blinds, watching the streets below. Moonlight filtered in through the blinds, lending the room a soft, ethereal glow.  
  
"Snake Eyes?" Scarlett whispered as she walked across the room to stand next to him.  
  
Snake Eyes turned and looked at her. There was so much sadness and longing in that gaze.  
  
"Lovely night," Scarlett remarked, and Snake Eyes nodded.  
  
"Wasn't that a beautiful little wedding?" Scarlett said.  
  
Snake Eyes nodded, not looking at her.  
  
Scarlett touched Snake Eyes' hand.  
  
"I never thanked you," she said, "for saving my life."  
  
She meant that she had never thanked him for saving her life in that disastrous battle in Washington, DC. But they both knew that it wasn't the first time Snake Eyes had risked his life for hers. And why?  
  
Because he loved her.  
  
As Snake Eyes turned to face her, he placed his hands on either side of Scarlett's face and brought his lips to her forehead. Scarlett closed her eyes as she felt Snake Eyes' gentle kiss.  
  
Snake Eyes signed to her with his hands.  
  
"I would do it again, gladly," he signed.  
  
"I know we haven't been the best of friends in the last few years," Scarlett said. "But it doesn't have to be this way."  
  
She looked hopefully into his eyes.  
  
"It's not too late, is it?"  
  
There was so much pain and loss and suffering in this world. But perhaps, Scarlett reflected, with Snake Eyes to help her, she could face the world with new courage.  
  
No, it's not too late. Not while we still have each other. Together, we can accomplish great things. We can move mountains. We can even dream of winning our world back.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to everyone who has been following this story so far. This is turning out to be an extremely difficult story to write; I know how it will all end, but it's taking a long time to get there. Sometimes I feel like I'll never be able to finish it. I hope you'll write in with your comments because it really helps a lot to know that the story has an audience. I have a feeling that this could be my last G.I. JOE fanfic. I'm trying my best to make it a good one. 


	17. The Choice

At the top of the Cobra tower in Washington, DC, Cobra Commander, Destro, and the Baroness gathered together to witness a demonstration of yet another of Destro's malignant inventions. A telescreen showed the proving grounds, a large, barren area in Maryland, where a great deal of Cobra weapons testing was being done.  
  
The Baroness sighed. She had long grown weary of the weapons being conceived and made by Destro. In his lust for conquest and destruction, Destro seemed to have forgotten her. The Baroness suspected he had even taken several of the female Cobra foot soldiers to bed. She tried her best not to look bored as Destro explained what was about to take place.  
  
"We have modified many of the weather satellites now in orbit around the earth," Destro said.  
  
"Modified in what way?" Cobra Commander hissed.  
  
"We now have a network of satellites that can shoot down high energy laser beams and destroy anything on the surface of the earth with surgical precision."  
  
On the telescreen, the camera zoomed in and focused on an abandoned, parked car. Destro punched in a few key commands on the control console, and within seconds, an incredible beam of light shot down from the sky and vaporized the car completely, leaving a small crater in the earth where the car had once been.  
  
"Most impressive, Destro," Cobra Commander. "But very boring. We already have the Weather Dominator to do that kind of 'energy beam from the sky thing.' I think you're holding out on us."  
  
"You perceive correctly, Commander," Destro said with some annoyance. "Observe what I will now do to Mount Rushmore."  
  
The telescreen image now showed Mount Rushmore in North Dakota, where for decades, the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt had been proudly displayed.  
  
With a few more keystrokes, Destro uploaded a computer program, which the laser satellites now executed with flawless accuracy. The Baroness could not help but feel a little impressed as the crisscrossing laser beams, at a low power setting, cut and carved out among the faces of the presidents, the visages of Cobra Commander and Destro.  
  
"Ooh," Cobra Commander clapped enthusiastically. "THAT'S what I like to see. What a fun toy!"  
  
As Cobra Commander contemplated using the satellites to draw his face in cornfields around the world, the Baroness decided it was time to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, Destro saw her leave, and he excused himself to go out into the hallway after her.  
  
The Baroness felt her heart rate pick up as she walked down the long corridors toward her room. She would do what she did on any other day. Now was the time when Layla would come in and report to her everything that was going on within the Cobra forces that under the direct command of the Baroness. Shortly after, Steeler would slip away from his quarters and join the Baroness in her private chambers. Sometimes, the Baroness wondered if Steeler would change his mind, but he never failed to come to her. He did so now without her even having to ask him. It was a mutual understanding between the two of them, one that they concealed from all others. No one knew of their relationship except for Layla, the Baroness' most trusted subordinate.  
  
Every night, the Baroness and Steeler indulged in their secret pleasure. They would sit together and talk for a while about what had happened that day, and then it would be time to make love. It seemed to the Baroness that Steeler could never get enough of her body. His eyes always widened at the sight of her breasts and her sex. He plunged into her with reckless abandon, moving within her with an urgency that always surprised her. The Baroness wondered if Steeler's passion for her would grow cold, as Destro's had. But they had been doing this for many weeks now, and Steeler hungered for her every bit as much as he had on the night they had first met long ago, in the dungeon, when the Baroness had teased and tempted him.  
  
Back then, the Baroness had offered herself to Steeler for the price of his loyalty to Cobra. At the time, Steeler had refused. But now, Steeler had joined Cobra. Or so it seemed. The Baroness knew and had always known that Steeler had some kind of agenda. His heart wasn't with Cobra. He was a spy, and she knew it. For some reason, she found herself not caring whether or not he was a spy. All she cared about was the fact that he was with her, pleasuring her, fulfilling her sexual needs. No longer would she suffer through the endless, lonely nights, dreaming of the one who would fill her up, both in body and in soul.  
  
He loves me, the Baroness reflected to herself as she walked down the corridor. If he's a spy, he must intend to destroy Cobra. But if he loves me, then he would never willingly hurt me. I don't believe he could ever hurt me. And what about me? Do I love him, as well?  
  
The Baroness paused to think about that. Yes, she thought. I do love him. I've grown accustomed to his face, to his voice, to his everything. I've grown accustomed to the feel of his arms around my body. He's passionate, yet gentle. He's so gentle.  
  
"Anastasia," a cold voice said behind her as she reached the door to her quarters. The Baroness froze. It was none other than Destro.  
  
"Yes, Destro?" the Baroness said with a false smile as she turned around to face him.  
  
"Anastasia, we need to talk."  
  
"Do we? And why do you now act so familiar with me? We hardly know each other anymore."  
  
"I know you've been seeing someone," Destro sneered as he opened the door to the Baroness' room and drew her inside, closing the door behind them.  
  
"Who I choose to see does not concern you," the Baroness spat out bitterly.  
  
"Why the hostility?" Destro said, his voice oozing with false charm. If the Baroness could have seen his face under that metallic mask of his, she would have seen a smile of Machiavellian deceitfulness.  
  
"After all this time that we've known each other. After all the special moments we've shared together. After all the times we made love-"  
  
"Those days are long behind us," the Baroness said. "You turned away from me to pursue your dreams of murder and conquest. Your work for Cobra became more important than our relationship. Do you expect me to come running back into your arms on a whim?"  
  
"I don't see why not," Destro said nonchalantly as he backed the Baroness down to her bed. The warning alarms were going off in the Baroness' head, and she thought of the small knife concealed beneath one of her uniform sleeves.  
  
"You belong to me," Destro said imperiously. "Who is this man that you've taken as your lover?"  
  
"A common rank and file soldier who caught my eye," the Baroness said. "I wanted him, and it was as simple as that. There isn't a man in Cobra who can resist a night of sexual pleasure with me."  
  
"You lie!" Destro said, pinning her arms to the bed and putting his weight on top of her.  
  
"I see how it is," the Baroness sneered. "You're allowed to take as many lovers as you want, but I'm not? I'm to be your faithful dog, is that it?"  
  
"You wound me," Destro said. "There has been no other woman for me but you."  
  
It was a bald lie, and the Baroness knew it.  
  
The Baroness saw the way Destro's eyes looked up and down her body as she lay quivering beneath him. She felt the hardness in his groin and knew that she would have to do something soon, or Destro would rape her right then and there.  
  
The door to the room opened, and Steeler, dressed in the blue uniform of a Cobra foot soldier, walked into the room. He was unarmed.  
  
Destro turned around, saw Steeler, and got off the Baroness. He walked over to Steeler, whose face remained concealed behind the Cobra mask.  
  
"So this is the man you've chosen to replace me," Destro said as he paced deliberately around Steeler, eyeing his new nemesis.  
  
Steeler could tell that Destro had given up on having his way with the Baroness, at least for the time being. But there was still the risk that Destro would recognize him. He prayed silently for Destro to leave as soon as possible, with minimal confrontation.  
  
I should be so lucky, he thought nervously.  
  
"Won't the man who caught the eye of the Baroness be brave enough to show me his face?"  
  
"You show me yours, and I'll show you mine," Steeler retorted.  
  
Destro had Steeler backed against the wall. Steeler had no really good way of resisting Destro's advance, and he wasn't about to start a fight. No, not here, not now. He could not risk getting caught, especially when he had not yet accomplished his mission. The Baroness could not help him now. She would only make things worse.  
  
Destro struck out his hand and grabbed hold of Steeler's mask. With one quick motion, he tore off the mask to reveal Steeler's face. For a frozen moment, the two enemies stared silently at each other. Destro peered into Steeler's face, trying to figure out if he knew him from somewhere, while Steeler held his ground, trying to show Destro that he was unafraid.  
  
I hope he doesn't recognize me, Steeler thought.  
  
Actually, there was a good chance that Destro would recognize him. When he had been held captive after the Battle of Washington, DC, it had been Destro who had led the interrogation. But that was more than a year ago. So many things had happened since then. Would Destro recognize him? If so, he was a dead man.  
  
Finally, Destro backed off.  
  
"You are a bold man," Destro remarked with calm menace, "I will not forget you."  
  
With that, Destro walked out the door.  
  
Steeler shut the door behind the departing Destro and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The Baroness walked up to him and put her hands on either side of his face. She tilted his face toward her own and looked into his eyes.  
  
"My poor, brave Steeler. So close to being betrayed as the enemy spy that you are. How hard it must be on you."  
  
"He didn't know me," Steeler said.  
  
"No, he didn't."  
  
"What would have happened if he had known me? Would you have done something to stop him?"  
  
"I would have killed him," the Baroness said.  
  
"Really? Why? I thought you didn't care about anyone or anything but yourself."  
  
The Baroness felt a flush creeping into her cheeks.  
  
"You're wrong," the Baroness said softly. "I love you."  
  
Steeler stared at her in shock, as if not believing that the woman standing before him truly loved him. He leaned in to kiss her and put his arms around her, and she moaned.  
  
"Make love to me," the Baroness said, "but slowly this time. Gently."  
  
Steeler took her hand and led her back to the bed.  
  
* * *  
  
It had been two months since Steeler had taken it upon himself to infiltrate Cobra, and the time had come at last to report his findings to Lady Jaye. The two Joes met in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial, which had now been turned into the Cobra Commander Memorial. With the immortal words of the Gettysburg Address behind it, the statue of a seated Abraham Lincoln was now a statue of Cobra Commander.  
  
The day was dark and cloudy, with a few raindrops beginning to fall. Lady Jaye and Steeler, both dressed in long trench coats, met behind one of the pillars of the memorial. They could look out over the Mall. The battlefield where Hawk and so many other Joes had sacrificed their lives was being turned into a slave labor camp. Construction vehicles were at work on the campgrounds, while Cobra soldiers conducted their routine patrol of the premises.  
  
Steeler told Lady Jaye everything he had managed to discover. He told her of numerous weapons being developed by Destro-satellites that fired lasers, insects bioengineered to transmit dangerous diseases, energy rays capable of rendering weapons and vehicles useless.  
  
Word had spread among the rank and file of Cobra that the next phase of the war would be starting soon. For more than a year, Cobra had had all of North America under its complete control. Through legal maneuvering by the Crimson Twins, Cobra had managed to present itself to the rest of the world as the legal, legitimate, sovereign power in the United States. For more than a year, the rest of the world stood by and watched, doing nothing to stop Cobra from conquering North America. America's allies in Europe were paralyzed. England, France, Germany, Russia-none of these countries dared to mount a trans-Atlantic attack against Cobra's Fortress North America. The democratic countries of western Europe made diplomatic overtures of peace, signing treaties with Cobra that were made to be broken, while building up their own defenses. They comforted themselves behind their conventional defenses, little suspecting the true power of Cobra's secret weapons.  
  
In two weeks, Steeler had found, the next phase of the war would begin. Cobra would take the war to the rest of the free world. Europe, Asia, and Australia would fall like chaff. With the support of Destro's advanced secret weapons, Cobra forces would launch a massive assault across the Atlantic Ocean and conquer the rest of the world. This had been Cobra Commander's plan from the very beginning. In two weeks, the entire Cobra leadership would gather together to initiate the next step in their ultimate plan.  
  
"We won't have this chance again," Lady Jaye said excitedly. "We can take out the Cobra leaders and stop them from attacking the rest of the world. Two weeks. That's not a lot of time."  
  
Steeler nodded. He'd told Lady Jaye nothing of the Baroness and their relationship.  
  
What will I do, he wondered. Will the Baroness be hurt because of what I've done? If she's to die, how will I live with myself?  
  
No, Steeler shook his head. I can't think of myself. Not when the future of the whole world is at stake.  
  
The decision was made. Lady Jaye would report to Flint, and their plan would be set into motion at last. All the surviving Joes would gather here in the nation's capitol in a bid to stop Cobra at all costs.  
  
"Will we meet again before it's time for the operation?" Steeler asked.  
  
"No, we can't risk it. From here on, it's complete silence. You know what you need to do. Is that understood, soldier?"  
  
Steeler nodded. The plans were set, and there was nothing left to do but pray. Steeler and Lady Jaye walked in separate directions. On the steps of the Cobra Commander Memorial, Steeler looked in Lady Jaye's direction, and noticed that she had already disappeared. It was beginning to rain harder, and Steeler shivered as he stood beneath his umbrella.  
  
"Nice day for a walk, isn't it?" a woman's voice said, startling him.  
  
It was Layla. She stood there under an umbrella as well, her Cobra uniform covered by a trench coat.  
  
Steeler looked at Layla nervously.  
  
"I know what you're doing, Steeler," Layla said coolly. "You are a Joe spy. You're reporting your findings to your fellow Joe friends."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Steeler said stiffly.  
  
"Oh, please, drop the act," Layla said scornfully. "I wasn't born yesterday. I've been watching you, you know. I've been watching you from the moment you stepped under that retinal scanner two months ago. You can't fool me."  
  
"Why haven't you tried to stop me?" Steeler wondered.  
  
Layla hooked arms with Steeler.  
  
"Let's take a walk, shall we?" she invited.  
  
The two of them took a walk through the rain that led past the construction site, in the direction of the Washington Monument.  
  
"I don't know how it is, but the Baroness has been so much happier since you came along. Seeing her happy is worth more than all the power and all the privilege in the whole world. She took me in, you see. She took me in when I had no one else to turn to."  
  
Steeler looked at her, and their eyes met briefly.  
  
"I never understood what it meant to be in love. No one has ever loved me in my whole life."  
  
Steeler's eyebrows arched at that statement.  
  
"That's hard to believe," he said.  
  
"Really?" Layla laughed. "And why is that?"  
  
Steeler took in Layla's slim face, her deep luminous eyes, her soft brown hair.  
  
"You're very beautiful," he said honestly.  
  
Layla blushed.  
  
"Very generous of you," she said. "If only it were true. But the Baroness loves you, you know. Maybe she even told you so, herself. I've never experienced love myself, so I don't know what to make of it. On one hand, I want her to be happy. It makes me happy to see her like this. She seems so much more alive, you just don't know. On the surface, she's a hard woman, but I believe that deep down, she is truly gentle.  
  
"But on the other hand," Layla continued, "I'm worried for my mistress. I'm worried that you're doing something that will end up hurting her. You wouldn't do something like that, would you?"  
  
Layla looked up earnestly into Steeler's eyes. She seemed almost to be pleading with him. And at that moment, Steeler somehow knew. He knew that he loved the Baroness. Somehow, he would find a way to protect her, to shield her from what was about to happen.  
  
"No, Layla," Steeler said, "I would rather die than live knowing that I allowed something to happen to her."  
  
Layla smiled, accepting Steeler's words. Yes, there was a great storm brewing on the horizon. Terrible things would happen, Steeler instinctively felt this in his heart. But somehow, he and the Baroness would find a way to be together. Somehow, their love would survive. 


	18. Shipwreck's Search

Shipwreck splashed his face with water from his sink basin and looked into the mirror. Besides the obvious fact that he now lacked his characteristic facial hair and had cropped his hair short, there was something noticeably different. He looked more hardened, like a gaunt figure cut from stone. A year ago, he would never have imagined he would find himself in his current situation. But here he stood, an infantry soldier, an anonymous member of Cobra's legions.  
  
"But not for long," he promised himself as he gazed at his lonely reflection in the mirror. His room was situated in the barracks assigned to the Cobra foot soldiers within Cobra's Manhattan fortress.  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck could remember it, even now. He'd been present at Times Square when the statue of the Baroness had been unveiled, and as he was thinking of leaving, he heard the recruiters standing outside the Cobra Recruitment Office on 42nd Street and Broadway.  
  
"Join our armed forces today," the recruiters called out to the crowd of civilians, "join us today and you too will share in the glory of Cobra."  
  
At that moment, the idea had come to Shipwreck in a burst of inspiration. For many months, Shipwreck had wandered alone in search of his friends and found no one. The G.I. JOE base at Staten Island was heavily guarded by Cobra, and a sign outside indicated that it was closed on the order of Cobra Commander. He had no clue where his friends were, if any of them were still alive. If there were any survivors, they were sure keeping a low profile. There was no news or public mention of surviving Joes anywhere.  
  
At that moment, Shipwreck realized that if anyone could possibly know anything about surviving Joes, it was Cobra. Surely, Cobra was keeping a close eye on the country, looking for signs of Joe activity. There was only one really good way to find out how much Cobra knew, and that was to become a Cobra himself. He would become one of Cobra's anonymous legions. He would erase his identity and become someone new. He would start from ground zero, going through Cobra boot camp and military training, whatever it took to find out the truth, no matter how long it took.  
  
"I have to know," Shipwreck said to himself as he listened to the recruiters babble on about the excellent benefits Cobra soldiers enjoyed, such as free health care.  
  
* * *  
  
One day, an electrifying rumor spread through the ranks of Cobra stationed in Manhattan that one or more fugitive Joes had been detected. The Cobra soldiers, who had grown fat and lazy with their lives of easy conquerors, found the news of a G.I. JOE computer hacking intrusion interesting. Word had it that someone had broken into Cobra's main computer network and downloaded some of the most top-secret files, and the Televipers had traced the hacker right to the neighboring borough of Brooklyn.  
  
Almost immediately, Zarana and the Dreadnoks had taken off in a chopper to apprehend the online intruders. As Shipwreck listened to the news and tidbits passed during dinner conversations with the fellow Cobra troopers in the mess hall, he could hardly conceal his joy. This was the first sign he had received that his friends were still alive. This meant he was no longer alone. The hacker could only have been Mainframe, he had realized. He was the most computer savvy Joe on the team. Shipwreck considered the possibility that Dial Tone could also have been involved. How many more Joes were out there, carrying on the struggle against Cobra? Could Flint and Lady Jaye still be alive? More importantly, was Cover Girl also among the survivors?  
  
The next day, Shipwreck volunteered for KP duty in the officers' section of Cobra's Manhattan fortress. He liked KP for several reasons. One reason was that it was a completely innocuous activity that he could do without feeling like he was violating his own beliefs. Not that he'd been forced to do anything really unpleasant since he'd joined Cobra. Without any apparent serious threat to their power, Cobra had had to deal with very few dissenters or rabble-rousers. The other reason was that doing KP allowed Shipwreck the freedom to snoop around Cobra's headquarters a little more, while pretending to be busy doing actual work. And when it came to pretending to do actual work, Shipwreck was a pro.  
  
The day after the online intrusion, Shipwreck overheard two Cobras talking about what had happened in the last 24 hours, regarding the online intrusion by suspected G.I. JOE forces. It turned out that there were two Joes, Mainframe and Dial Tone. Dial Tone had been killed, but Mainframe had escaped, and what was most shocking of all, Zarana had helped him! She'd turned against her own Dreadnoks and knocked all of them out.  
  
Shipwreck turned away from the two Cobras as he mopped the floor at the end of the hall, pretending not to pay attention. He realized that one of the Cobras was Zartan.  
  
"You heard me right," Zartan said. "Mainframe and Zarana are still at large."  
  
Shipwreck raised his eyebrows at the resentment in Zartan's voice.  
  
The second man spoke. It was Dusty, Shipwreck realized with a shock of recognition.  
  
"How shocking that you allowed your own sister and a G.I. JOE to slip past you, out on the streets, in broad daylight. That was quite a ruckus you people stirred up down by the Brooklyn Bridge. Was it too much for a tough guy like you to handle?"  
  
"You'd be well to watch your mouth around me, Dusty. You may have Cobra Commander's favor now, but circumstances may change."  
  
"Humph," Dusty scoffed. "I'd say circumstances are more likely to change faster for you than for me, with the kind of pathetic performance you've turned out so far."  
  
Shipwreck hastily finished mopping his section of the hall and slipped around the corner unnoticed. This was Dusty! It was the first time he had seen him since-well, since the days when he was still a member of the G.I. JOE team. And here he was, baiting and insulting Zartan, no less. Shipwreck could hardly remember Dusty being this cocky and arrogant. Maybe that's what he had to do in order to become one of them. This was getting weirder and weirder every day. To think that Dusty would now have so much authority within Cobra. Surely, he must know something about any surviving Joes. And as Shipwreck retreated from the officers' section with his mop and bucket, he began to formulate a plan in his mind. Yes, he would track down Dusty. He would find him alone and find out the truth. Of course, he wouldn't forget to exact a little revenge for his lost buddies, while he was at it. Shipwreck walked back to his quarters at a brisk pace, his mind turning at a million miles a minute.  
  
* * *  
  
It was the end of another day in Cobra, as far as Dusty was concerned. Another day of routine patrols and surveillance in Manhattan. Soon, it would all change. Soon, Cobra would move on to the bigger fish it had to fry-taking on the rest of the world. It wasn't really something he was looking forward to, but Dusty did have to admit it would break up the monotony of his routine existence in Cobra.  
  
Preoccupied with thoughts of the near future, Dusty was completely unprepared for the sight that greeted him when he slipped his card access key into the lock of the private room he shared with his wife. In the bedroom, a blue garbed Cobra trooper sat with his mask on, holding a handgun equipped with a silencer. Lying down five feet away, in a corner of the room, was Carol, tied up and knocked unconscious.  
  
Dusty froze in shock.  
  
"What's the meaning of this?"  
  
His hand inched for the gun holstered at his hip.  
  
"Don't even think about it, Dusty," the man said. Dusty noted that the man emphasized his name with a special ring of scorn and hatred. "This pistol here is aimed straight at your head. You make one false move, I blow it clean off."  
  
"Who-who are you?"  
  
The man rose from the bed, walked over to Dusty, and quickly disarmed him. He then suddenly grabbed Dusty and shoved him onto the bed, forcing him to back up against the headrest, all the while keeping his gun aimed straight at his head.  
  
"I'm going to be the one asking the questions, you son of a bitch!"  
  
The man pistol-whipped Dusty in the face. Reeling from the blow, Dusty tasted blood on his lips. Dazed, he looked up. The man had removed his mask, and the two stared at each other, face to face.  
  
The clean shaved face looked different, but the voice was familiar. Could it be?  
  
"Shipwreck?" Dusty ventured.  
  
"Bet you forgot all about me, all this time you've been getting cozy up here with your little Cobra wife," Shipwreck sneered.  
  
Shipwreck looked over in the direction of Carol Demming.  
  
"I think I've seen her before, too," Shipwreck said, vaguely recalling the woman cadet who had once interrogated him, long ago.  
  
"What?" Dusty said, confused.  
  
"Never mind," Shipwreck said angrily. "There are Joes out there right now, alive and well, and you know something about it."  
  
"I'm telling you, I don't know any more than you do."  
  
"Don't you bullshit me!" Shipwreck cried. "Being a Joe traitor yourself, you're the very person who WOULD know. I know about the episode with Mainframe and Dial Tone that happened a few weeks ago. There are more of them out there. So start talking. Who are the survivors, and what did you last hear of them?"  
  
In the corner, Carol Demming began to stir.  
  
A tense moment followed as Shipwreck and Dusty glared at each other, with Shipwreck's gun jabbed against Dusty's nose.  
  
"Is Cover Girl alive?"  
  
"Why would you want to-"  
  
"Just tell me!"  
  
"I-I don't know. I believe she's listed as missing."  
  
"You're lying."  
  
"I'm telling you, I don't know, and it would not be a good thing if I did know, because then they would all be dead."  
  
"Just tell me where my friends are!" Shipwreck pleaded desperately, shoving the gun even harder against Dusty's face.  
  
"I swear, Shipwreck, I don't know anything more about it."  
  
Carol Demming was awake now. Both Shipwreck and Dusty turned to glance at her.  
  
"You okay, baby?" Dusty said.  
  
"Yes, Dusty," Carol said. She addressed Shipwreck. "Please don't kill my husband."  
  
"I should kill him," Shipwreck said before turning back to Dusty. "You're a liar, a coward, and a traitor. It's all your fault things turned out this way. I want to really make you suffer, and then I want to kill you, put this bullet in your head and blow your brains out. How would you like that, you rat bastard son of a bitch?"  
  
Shipwreck shoved the gun against Dusty so hard that Dusty cried out from the pain.  
  
"Ah," Dusty cried, "Please, Shipwreck, kill me if you want, but don't hurt Carol."  
  
Shipwreck looked at Carol Demming again, noticed the pained look in her eyes, and the slight bulge in her belly. She was beginning to show her pregnancy.  
  
Shipwreck began pressing the trigger. Dusty shut his eyes in anticipation of the end. The trigger was depressed halfway, when Shipwreck stopped.  
  
"I'm sorry," Shipwreck whispered as he withdrew the gun and dropped it onto the bed. He was not speaking to Dusty; in his mind, he was speaking to the dead Joes who cried out for Dusty's blood. Killing Dusty would not bring them back. It would not help him find Cover Girl. He had played his best gambit and lost.  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't do it," Shipwreck said. "I just wanted to find my friends. I wanted to find her."  
  
Dusty picked up the gun and turned on his walkie talkie.  
  
"So you're going to turn me in now, is that it?" a dejected Shipwreck asked.  
  
"I'm not a Joe anymore, Shipwreck," Dusty said. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."  
  
"You look sorry," Shipwreck said bitterly.  
  
Dusty spoke into the walkie talkie.  
  
"This is Dusty. I have a G.I. JOE intruder in my quarters. Request that Security come to arrest this man immediately." 


	19. Revelations

A cool wind sent the autumn leaves tumbling quietly along the walkways of New York City's Central Park, and the young woman seated on the park bench briefly looked up from her newspaper to note the way the leaves flitted through the air. She was a clean, unremarkable appearing woman with a faded leather jacket, torn jeans, and long black hair.  
  
The woman glanced down at her watch, and saw the clock face read 5:30. The sun would go down soon, the air would grow cooler, and the New Yorkers lounging on the grass or playing softball would soon leave and retire for the evening. It was just another day in the life of the Cobra empire, but for her this was no ordinary day. Today her life would change.  
  
A Cobra trooper walked up to the woman and stopped in front of her. The woman felt her muscles tense involuntarily, before she reminded herself that she hadn't been spotted and recognized, at least not yet.  
  
"Just need to remind you the park is closing in half an hour," the trooper said.  
  
The woman sighed. One hand behind the paper was rested on a silenced pistol, resting inside of her purse. She smiled at the trooper, thanked him for his courtesy, and slowly withdrew her hand from the pistol. You could never be too cautious. She wondered for a moment if she was being watched, or if a trap was being set for her without her knowing it. Her eyes flicked briefly left and right, scanning the area and finding nothing suspicious.  
  
Must be nerves, she thought. I never used to get nervous.  
  
A tall, well built man wearing jeans, a brown jacket, and a baseball cap approached her along the walkway, from the west. The woman sitting on the park bench noted the way his figure was shrouded in darkness but rimmed with a soft glow of light, from the way the sun was setting behind him. Even though she could not distinguish the details well, she knew it was HIM. He had not failed to meet her as they had promised each other, months ago.  
  
Mainframe, her heart whispered as the man nonchalantly sat down on the bench, next to her, pretending not to know her. Or, her heart whispered, as she had grown accustomed to thinking of him, Blaine.  
  
My sweet Blaine.  
  
He'd given her his real name, that night. There was something deeply intimate in knowing his true name. That was the night they made love for the first time.  
  
"It's been a long time, Zarana," Mainframe said softly as he turned to her.  
  
Their eyes met, and Zarana felt her heart leap into her chest. After all those months running from Cobra, stealing whatever she could to survive, and sneaking around to find ways to contact Mainframe, Zarana could finally see him again with her own eyes. How long had she suffered so, in anguished loneliness? Far too long, she decided.  
  
"Let's get out of here before we're seen," Zarana whispered.  
  
They walked hand in hand toward the east end of Central Park. As they walked together, it was all Zarana could do to keep herself from losing control and grabbing Mainframe to make love to him right then and there. She wanted so much to kiss him, to feel his tongue inside her mouth, to feel his hands on her breasts, to feel him inside of her. Her body was ready and primed for his touch. She longed to hear his tender endearments in the stillness of the night, when, after many hours of making love, their spent, sweaty bodies would lie entangled in one another's arms, and he would brush back a wet tendril of hair from her forehead and whisper to her how much he loved her. They would always be together, physically and emotionally. This was truly the start of her life, Zarana reflected. From this day forward, everything would be new and unknown. She would join G.I. JOE, as Mainframe had asked her to, months ago. What dangers would they face together as they fought to make a world for themselves, a world where they could be free to love one another without limits, free from having to run around and meet, disguised, in public places?  
  
As they passed under a bridge, Mainframe stopped abruptly and pulled Zarana to the darkened wall. His mouth found hers, and they kissed passionately. Months of longing and dreaming melted away in a heartbeat. Zarana put her arms around him and pressed his body against hers. In the darkness under the bridge, she could feel the hardness in Mainframe's groin. She could feel her own groin becoming hot with sexual anticipation. His kiss was one of hunger and urgency. Zarana felt one hand on her back and one on her ass, pressing her against him.  
  
They kissed until they were both out of breath, and they broke apart, flushed in excitement from their moment of secret passion. In the darkness, they looked at one another with understanding.  
  
Not here, Zarana whispered to herself. We can't be caught here like this, not after we've been reunited after all this time.  
  
But soon, she knew, they would make it to Mainframe's home. Zarana imagined they would fall into one another's arms again, the moment they walked through the door. They would both impatiently strip off their clothes until they were naked, and then with one thrust, he would fill her body with his own. Then they would be one. Maybe they wouldn't even make it to a bed. Maybe they would have sex right there, standing up, with him pinning her against the wall.  
  
Still, a troubling thought nagged at her consciousness. The other Joes. How would they receive her? Mainframe had not yet told his friends about their relationship, but the time had come to reveal the truth.  
  
* * *  
  
In an apartment in New York's Chinatown, Zarana faced the inquisition. At least, that's what it felt like to be in the center of the room, surrounded by a bunch of hostile and untrusting Joes. For the first time since the Battle of Washington, DC, the Joes had convened together. Seated in the center of the living room on a fold up chair, Zarana looked around the room and remembered the names of each of the Joes. Grunt stood by the front door, standing guard with pistol in hand. Behind a kitchen counter, Cover Girl and Clutch worked together to prepare a meal for everyone. Periodically, their eyes went across the counter to the living room to check out what was going on. Scarlett and Snake Eyes sat together at a small dining table, staring silently at Zarana. Next to the dining table, Beach Head, Flint, and Lady Jaye sat on a couch, with a coffee table in front of them. A folder containing a wad of papers sat on the table, with a clip of handgun ammunition resting on top of the folder. Next to the folder lay a mug of coffee, which Flint periodically reached out to for a sip. In the corner of the living room, Low-Light sat morosely, polishing the scope of his high powered sniper rifle. Mainframe stood along the wall of the apartment facing the street. The blinds had been drawn down over the windows. Zarana looked to Mainframe for help, but he could do nothing but give a smile of encouragement. Behind Zarana, the TV was on, with the volume turned way down.  
  
"So that's how it is," Lady Jaye said with a look of lingering disbelief in her eyes. "You and Mainframe are in love."  
  
"Yeah, that's right," Zarana said demurely.  
  
"And how long has this been going on?"  
  
Zarana looked to Mainframe. How could they possibly explain the circumstances under which they had met? How could they explain the years they had spent apart, longing to see each other again? Could she even put it into words?  
  
"A long time?"  
  
"Define 'a long time,'" Beach Head cut in.  
  
Zarana thought about it for a while.  
  
"Maybe five years," she said.  
  
"Five years?!" Beach Head nearly screamed. "You and Mainframe have been in love for five years? That would mean this has been going on, long before Cobra defeated us. And to think we never knew about it."  
  
Beach Head turned to Mainframe.  
  
"Is this true?" Beach Head said.  
  
Mainframe nodded.  
  
"So, I see how it is," Beach Head laughed. "It's like Romeo and Juliet. This is some story, Mainframe. Who would have thought, a regular computer nerd like you would have a love affair with a wild lady like Zarana? This is hot stuff."  
  
Beach Head leaned forward, his eyes narrowing, his facial features twisting beneath the green Ranger's mask he wore.  
  
Zarana felt herself growing hot as she sat there, withstanding Beach Head's appraisal, the way he was looking her up and down, noting the ample curves of her body.  
  
"I can't imagine what the two of you could possibly have in common," Beach Head declared. "It must be all about the sex. I'll bet the sex must be pretty freaking amazing, am I right?"  
  
"That ain't none of your damn business, asshole!"  
  
Zarana snapped and leaped forward from her chair, lunging across the coffee table toward Beach Head, knocking Flint's half filled cup of coffee on its side, spilling some coffee onto the table. Beach Head in turn leaned forward, ready to sock her one, in turn.  
  
Flint and Lady Jaye immediately stood up and broke up the impending fight between Zarana and Beach Head.  
  
"Stop this shit!" Flint hissed. "Both of you shut up and sit down!"  
  
"Beach Head does have a point, though," Flint said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Seems like a pretty unlikely story to me."  
  
"Sometimes the most unlikely things end up becoming the most natural," Lady Jaye observed.  
  
"Why do you love Mainframe?" Scarlett asked.  
  
Zarana hesitated. She felt totally uncomfortable spilling out her guts in front of all these people.  
  
"Answer the question," Beach Head said.  
  
"He showed me a new life," Zarana said.  
  
"A new life?" Beach Head said.  
  
"My whole life, I've been a rotten no-good hoodlum, running with Zartan and his gang. I never loved anyone, I was never loved by anyone. But then I met Mainframe."  
  
Zarana closed her eyes as she remembered the time that Mainframe had saved her from a stack of falling crates, back when she had infiltrated G.I. JOE in order to steal some information. A smile came to her lips.  
  
"I was just going in to spy on the Joes, disguised as some army lady. He was the first man to show kindness to me. He risked his life to save my own. We were attracted to one another. And when he found out who I really was, it was as if he didn't care that I was a Cobra. He looked inside of me and saw a woman that he cared for. And I never forgot that, during the years when we were apart. I always thought about him, in my most private moments, and I wondered if he thought of me as well. He showed me that I didn't have to live my life this way. He showed me that I could live a life of love. And I wondered, every time I went into a fight, would I see him on the other side? Could I bring myself to hurt him? I found out the answer to that on the night I had to take the Dreadnoks to chase down a hacker. They put a gun in my hands and said, 'here Zarana, you do the honors.' But I couldn't do it. I couldn't hurt the man I loved, even if it meant turning against my own brother. And that's when I knew I would risk everything for him."  
  
There was a long pause as everyone digested the import of those words.  
  
"And so," Beach Head said bitterly, "if we're to believe that you and Mainframe have really been in love all this time, and that you're telling you the truth, we're to just welcome you with open arms? We've been betrayed before, by one of our own. Why should we trust you?"  
  
A tear came to Zarana's eye.  
  
"I have no where else to go," she said.  
  
"Ask her what happened to Dial Tone," Clutch said angrily from the kitchen.  
  
"He was killed," Zarana said softly, hanging her head.  
  
"By your hands?" Beach Head said.  
  
"No, by the Dreadnoks," Zarana said. "I tried to stop them. I told them I wanted to take him and Mainframe alive."  
  
"It's true," Mainframe said. "And they would have killed me too, but Zarana intervened. She attacked the Dreadnoks and knocked out all three of them, and then she took care of me. I'd been shot, you see. She risked everything to help me."  
  
"So that's what happened," Flint said. Mainframe never had told the full story of what had happened the night he and Dial Tone had hacked into Cobra's main computers. He had said that Cobra troops had chased them, killing Dial Tone and nearly killing him too. I guess he wasn't ready to reveal his relationship with Zarana, Flint thought to himself.  
  
"You see, I can't go back to Cobra now, even if I wanted to," Zarana said. "I burned my bridges. Right now Cobra is hunting for me every bit as intensely as they're looking for all of you. To them, I'm a traitor, and they want me dead, but I don't care. I gave up Cobra to be with Mainframe. I started my life all over again. I promised Mainframe that we would do whatever it took to stay together. Please, let me help you."  
  
All of the Joes in the room were silent. They all regarded Zarana thoughtfully. One by one, they came to a grudging acceptance of her allegiance. She could see it in their eyes, even in Beach Head's.  
  
"You know, it's not every day that we're all together like this," Flint said, breaking the long silence. "You know, we've been scattered across the eastern seaboard, trying to stay under the Cobra radar."  
  
"Yes, I know," Zarana said.  
  
"With the exception of Steeler," Flint continued, "you're looking at every known survivor in G.I. JOE. We're all that's left. It's our duty to fight against Cobra to the very end. Do you understand that?"  
  
"Yes," Zarana said.  
  
"And you understand that if you join us, you could very well be setting out on a path that could lead to your own destruction?"  
  
"I don't care about that," Zarana said.  
  
"We're planning a major operation against Cobra, and it's nearly time for the execution of that plan. Are you willing to help us? Are you prepared to do this at the possible cost of your own life?"  
  
"Yes," Zarana said.  
  
Flint stood up and offered his hand. Zarana looked at it hesitantly.  
  
"Welcome to the team," Flint said.  
  
Zarana took Flint's hand. She could feel the tension easing down, throughout the room. A thrill of elation coursed through her body. She had found acceptance with the Joes! Now she was free to help Mainframe in this struggle against Cobra. Their life together had truly begun, it seemed to her. After so much time and so much heartache, she felt she was beginning to realize the dream that she and Mainframe had voiced together, on the morning after they had made love for the first time.  
  
"Dinner's ready," Cover Girl announced as she and Clutch made their way to the coffee table to set down the food. Cover Girl carried a bowl of salad, and Clutch a pot of noodles. As Cover Girl knelt to set down the salad on the table, she turned toward the front of the room, where Zarana had been standing all this time. Zarana now moved toward the side of the living room to where Mainframe was standing, and Cover Girl could see the TV.  
  
What she saw on the TV made her blood run cold, and she froze.  
  
"Cover Girl?" Lady Jaye said. "What's wrong?"  
  
Cover Girl ignored her as she put down the salad bowl and rushed to the TV to turn the volume up.  
  
"Everyone quiet!" she yelled, silencing the conversations that were starting up among the other Joes in the room as they eagerly awaited dinner.  
  
On the TV screen, there was an image of Shipwreck. He was not quite the same as Cover Girl remembered him, but even without the beard, it was unmistakable. It was Shipwreck, she knew. It was HIM.  
  
At the bottom of the screen flashed the words, "News Alert: Fugitive Joe Captured."  
  
The voice of the news anchor could be heard over the photo of Shipwreck.  
  
"-news that the G.I. JOE sailor, codename 'Shipwreck,' was apprehended last night. He was caught disguised as a Cobra trooper, apparently attempting to carry out an espionage mission in Cobra's Manhattan Headquarters. As viewers may remember, Shipwreck is one of several members of the G.I. JOE terrorist group who have not been confirmed as dead."  
  
Cobra Commander appeared on the screen. He was giving a news conference.  
  
"This is most excellent news," Cobra Commander hissed. "We have been on the lookout for remnants of G.I. JOE, and it is most gratifying to see our efforts paying off. We will not rest until every last one of the JOE criminals are exterminated."  
  
"Emperor," a voice off screen asked, "what are you planning to do with Shipwreck?"  
  
"He'll be executed, of course. It will be a great big ceremony, on live television to boot, complete with entertainment. Let everyone who hears this know that this shall be the fate of all those who have not yet seen the wisdom and justice of THE COBRA WAY."  
  
"No," Cover Girl said as she bent forward on her knees, clutching the TV. "This can't happen. He's alive. Shipwreck's alive."  
  
The other Joes gathering around her and the television looked to one another in shocked silence.  
  
Cover Girl turned to a surprised Flint and grabbed him by the collar. There were tears in her eyes. Everyone in the room was stunned by Cover Girl's display of emotion at the news. Sure, they were all affected, but somehow, the feeling went deeper in Cover Girl. Almost as if she--  
  
Almost as if she was in love with Shipwreck.  
  
"We've got to do something!"  
  
Flint folded Cover Girl into his arms as she cried openly.  
  
"I think our plans are about to go through a slight change," Flint said. 


	20. The Mission

Washington, DC  
  
The elevator lift ascended through the heights of the Cobra ramparts, carrying Beach Head and Low-Light. They were alone. Neither man spoke; they both knew their mission had begun and could not fail. The slightest misstep meant failure. Beneath the Cobra mask he wore, Low-Light's face bore a stoic expression. He was outwardly calm. Heck, he wasn't even sweating or feeling the stomach butterflies that other men felt before a mission. In his heart, though, Low-Light felt an unshakable misgiving. His mind flashed back to that fateful night, more than a year and a half ago, defending that barricade with Rock 'N Roll. He had seen Rock 'N Roll die before his very eyes. It was a horrible, traumatic night that would have ruined most men. But Low-Light was different. Horrible things had happened, yes it was true, but Low-Light knew he could be strong enough to survive and carry out his duty. Low-Light looked across the elevator to Beach Head, who stared impassively back, and wondered if Beach Head felt the same misgivings. So much was riding on the outcome of this mission. Was he afraid?  
  
Maybe I am afraid, Low-Light reflected. Maybe a little. Afraid that this could be the beginning of the end, not just for me, but for all of my friends. And it will all happen here, here in this city, the nation's capital, where not long ago, G.I. JOE was dealt a crushing defeat. Soon, everything would be decided, here in this place, the place where all things, good or evil, seemed possible.  
  
Low-Light watched the level number on the display screen in the elevator climb to the top level, fifteen. Many of the other Joes were elsewhere within Cobra's Washington fortress. All of the surviving Joes would have infiltrated the Cobra base by now, with the exception of Mainframe and Zarana, who were ordered by Flint to remain outside of the fortress. From a hotel room across the street, Mainframe and Zarana had a good view of the fortress. Mainframe and Zarana had understandably insisted on remaining together during the operation, and it was Mainframe's job to electronically monitor what was going on inside the fortress via a hacked computer network connection. Mainframe had already done a great deal, having hacked into the data files containing the retinal scanner information on every Cobra personnel, making it possible for the Joes to enter the Washington fortress undetected. There would be none of the problems that had accompanied Steeler on his attempt to infiltrate Cobra. Each of the Joes was wearing hidden microphones and radio transmitters, but there would be no communications, at least not yet. For now, there would be complete radio silence. Even Steeler, still undercover, knew what he needed to do.  
  
The elevator reached the top level, and the doors opened to a long, roofless, walled walkway that extended the entire length of the fortress. Beach Head and Low-Light stepped foot onto the ramparts and headed slowly across. To their left, there was the interior, the inner courtyard where, in the morning, it would all happen: the launching of the attack on the rest of the free world, along with the televised execution of Shipwreck. Beach Head and Low-Light would have a good view of the courtyard through the open windows that lined the inner wall of the rampart.  
  
"We must be quick," Beach Head muttered to Low-Light as they walked together along the top of the fortress's anterior wall. "They must not be allowed to alert the others."  
  
They met the first trooper near the elevator. He turned to them and looked at his watch.  
  
"You guys are way early for the next shift," he said.  
  
The trooper's eyes went wide as Beach Head suddenly pulled out a knife and hurled it into his neck. Before the other troopers could respond, Low- Light whipped out his silencer-equipped pistol and gunned down the remaining four troopers in a matter of seconds. In the darkness of the early morning, the troopers were caught off guard and stood no chance against Low-Light's superior night vision and deadly marksmanship.  
  
After checking that the troopers were all dead, Low-Light and Beach Head methodically moved the bodies to a spot at the east end of the walkway, where they would hopefully not be seen by anyone in the Cobra Ziggurat, within the fortress walls. Then Beach Head moved to one of the windows facing the street, pulled out a flashlight, and in Morse code, flashed the following message.  
  
WE ARE IN POSITION.  
  
Beach Head checked his watch. At the appointed time, Mainframe and Zarana would be watching from across the street for this message, and they would know that things were proceeding according to Flint's plan.  
  
Beach Head and Low-Light pulled down the high powered rifles they were carrying slung over their shoulders. Low-Light reached into his pocket for his sniper scope and took a look out the window facing the inner courtyard and Ziggurat tower.  
  
A column of Cobra troopers marched back and forth along the impressive length of the courtyard, where in the center, a large stage and holographic projection screen had been set up. A pair of Tele-Vipers labored on the stage, making sure the arrays of holographic projectors were working properly.  
  
Soon, he said to himself. Soon this nightmare will be over.  
  
* * *  
  
Footsteps tapped on the thick concrete slabs as they approached Shipwreck's cell in the basement dungeon where Steeler had once been a guest, more than a year ago. Shipwreck sat glumly on his rigid cell bed, staring down at his hands. His beard was growing back, and he looked more like his old self, except his appearance was a little more hardened and gaunt. Under Destro's direction, the Cobra soldiers had intensely interrogated him for two weeks. He had been beaten up quite a bit, and it still showed from the bruise on his left cheek and the cut on his lower lip. But he had not been able to tell them anything about the locations of the other Joes.  
  
"If I knew where the other Joes were, you think I would be here, you dumbass?" Shipwreck had told Destro.  
  
Now he had been brought down to Washington, DC, from New York City, and was scheduled for an execution by firing squad today. It was not a bright prospect.  
  
If only I could see Cover Girl again, Shipwreck mused. None of this would matter. My dying wouldn't matter. What is my life without her, anyway? It was a lonely life, with an emptiness that could not be filled.  
  
Shipwreck looked up and saw in the dim light a hooded Cobra Commander standing outside his prison cell, looking in. Cobra Commander placed his hands on his hips and shook his head sympathetically.  
  
"Poor, poor Shipwreck," he said, "it's a pity you're going to be shot today, on national TV. It's a tragedy that could have been avoided, if only you had been smart enough to spill a couple of beans."  
  
Shipwreck had already been through this with Cobra Commander and Destro, several times before. He had decided to tell the truth, that he had been separated from his squad in the Battle of San Francisco and had been alone ever since.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Shipwreck said, "take your pity and shove it."  
  
"I didn't come here to make small talk," Cobra Commander said in a low conspiratorial voice. "What if I told you that we have found an old friend of yours?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Snake Face," Shipwreck growled. He prayed that it wasn't Cover Girl.  
  
"Oh, I think you do," Cobra Commander said, wagging a finger at him. "Once upon a time, you see, there was an ordinary girl who dreamed of extraordinary things. She was offered the chance to have powers no normal person could, the freedom to dwell under the sea and explore a world beyond normal human experience. This is the story of the girl who became a mermaid, who in turn met a lonely sailor and fell for him. He set her free from her captors, but, given the fact that he was a Joe and she was a mermaid, they could not be together. It was a relationship doomed from the outset. 'My place is the sea,' she told him, and with that, she swam off into the moonlight. But in all that time, she never forgot him and the special kindness he once freely gave to her. She dreamed of meeting him again. Sometimes, she would find herself returning to the island in the South Pacific where they had once met and fallen in love. But each time she came within view of the shore, there was no lovelorn sailor waiting there for her. Nothing waited for her but the pale shadows of her own dreams."  
  
Shipwreck stood up and stared at Cobra Commander through the thick bars of the prison.  
  
"What have you done with her, you scum?"  
  
His voice shook with anger. It was true he had loved Mara the mermaid once, but that was so long ago. Over time, his feeling for her had subsided and had been supplanted by a greater, albeit unrequited, love for Cover Girl. In his heart, he was devoted to Cover Girl and would do anything for her, even give up his life. When Cobra had captured him and duped him into believing that Mara had been turned back into a human and the two of them had gotten married and had a beautiful daughter, the effects of that experience had devastated Shipwreck. Lady Jaye would not have understood what was going through Shipwreck's mind when he stood and watched the dream home he had shared with Mara burn to the ground. For weeks afterward, Shipwreck was unusually quiet and hardly spoke to anyone. The smiles and jokes were gone from his life. But Cover Girl reached out to him in his loneliness. She went out on her way to spend time with him. In the past, Cover Girl had often been abrupt with Shipwreck, flatly refusing all of his half-serious advances. When she saw how Shipwreck suffered in loneliness, she did her best to cheer him up. That's when they really began to get to know each other. Shipwreck told her how he grew up near the San Diego shipyards and lied about his age in order to join the Navy at age sixteen, and Cover Girl shared the story of how she left a career in modeling to enlist. Over the years, Shipwreck grew to love Cover Girl. He honestly loved her as he never had before. But he was always afraid to tell her his true feelings, so he continued to hide his feelings behind a veil of laughter and jokes. There came a time when he could no longer keep his feelings to himself, and he confessed to her that day on the beach wall. He confessed to a woman who didn't even love him back. Shipwreck still felt a sting of humiliation when he thought back to that day. What a pathetic, loser thing to do, confessing to a girl who doesn't even love you! He wanted to take it back, take it all back, but he couldn't take it back. He still loved her in spite of everything, damn it all. Just knowing that she was safe and well would be enough for him, even if he couldn't share his life with her. If he was to suffer, then so be it, let him suffer.  
  
No, it was Cover Girl he loved now. He perhaps harbored some residual feelings for Mara. He didn't think he had the same depth of feeling toward Mara as he had for Cover Girl, but all the same, he couldn't bear the thought of Mara suffering.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to write a happy ending to this story?" Cobra Commander said in a voice dripping with false sincerity.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"We have your old friend, your old flame, Mara, locked up somewhere. Somewhere out there, our Cobra scientists are doing their business on her, poking and prodding and zapping her, the typical thing that nerdy people with pHD's like to spend years doing. Oh, Shipwreck, oh goodness, she is so, so DREADFULLY unhappy. This is not the life she signed up for when she volunteered to become a mermaid. She was supposed to be swimming freely in the open ocean, not live a miserable life as a guinea pig! With one word, one snap of the fingers, I can free her, just like that. All it takes is your cooperation."  
  
"My cooperation," Shipwreck repeated numbly. Was Cobra Commander telling the truth? He had no way of knowing. It was certainly possible that Cobra had captured Mara and was now torturing her for whatever devious end they had in mind. But what was he, Shipwreck, supposed to do about it? At that moment, Shipwreck knew instinctively that if he had the chance, he would do whatever it took to set her free, partly because a part of him still cared for her, but mostly because it was the right thing to do.  
  
"Today is a big day for Cobra," Cobra Commander said, "and you're on the schedule for an execution. I can be magnanimous and spare your miserable life. I will set Mara free from her captivity. If you want, you two erstwhile lovers could get together, have lots of sex, make babies, and live happily on a beach somewhere. I don't care. But in return, you must help lead me to the rest of the surviving Joes. They're still out there, plotting against me. You might have heard about the incident with Mainframe and Dial Tone some months ago. Proof that the Joes continue to conspire against me. In particular, I know that Flint is still alive. I want his head. I want you to lead me to them. You give me Flint, and I'll give you back your life, and Mara's too."  
  
"So you want me to become a spy and a traitor," Shipwreck said contemptuously.  
  
"You learn fast," Cobra Commander said.  
  
"Forget it," Shipwreck said flatly, going back to his steel prison bed. "Take your bullshit somewhere else. Here's a news flash for you: some of us Joes still have a conscience, unlike CERTAIN PEOPLE."  
  
Cobra Commander did not fail to grasp that Shipwreck was referring to the hated Joe traitor, Dusty.  
  
"Just kill me and get it over with," Shipwreck said bitterly.  
  
"And what about Mara? Don't you want to do something for her? The poor girl will just go on suffering."  
  
Cobra Commander stood there for a moment longer, ready to head back upstairs.  
  
"Yeah, well, life's a bitch," Shipwreck answered with sarcasm. "Shit happens."  
  
* * *  
  
In the armory located on the thirteenth floor of the Cobra Ziggurat, Steeler looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching. He was alone at the moment. This section of the armory was about half the size of a basketball court, and it was filled wall to wall with a variety of assault rifles, rocket launchers, mortars, piles of grenades, and machine gun ammunition. Behind a rack containing rocket launchers, Steeler surreptitiously slipped a packet the size of his hand and set it to rest. He straightened up and looked around once again. It was all clear. Steeler walked out the door and proceeded down a long corridor, where he would take the stairs down another level, back to his room. He was finished for now. In about two hours, Cobra would hold a ceremony in the enormous courtyard outside the tower, within the fortress walls. In about two hours, the Joes would make their bid to stop Cobra, perhaps for good. Steeler had been doing his part, this morning, carefully planting a series of remote detonated bombs within and around the Ziggurat. He would be the one to set off the detonator, at the precise time. He could still hear Lady Jaye's words to him in their last meeting, just one week ago. They had originally planned not to meet, but when Steeler learned that Shipwreck was captured and scheduled for an execution, the same thought that the other Joes had had ran through his mind. There would have to be a change of plans. Shipwreck would have to be rescued.  
  
We're counting on you, Steeler. Low-Light and Beach Head are taking sniper rifles to the top of the front rampart. If everything goes according to plan, all of the Cobra leaders will be assembled together on stage. When the time is right, we'll take our shots at them. When that happens, you set off those bombs. You blow this place sky high, and we'll all get our asses out of there in the confusion. No one will be the wiser.  
  
(You're going to take them all out? Cobra Commander, Destro, Zartan? The Baroness, too?)  
  
If we're lucky enough to get them all, yeah. You have a problem with that, soldier? Can we trust you to do your part of this mission?  
  
(No problem, Lady Jaye. No problem at all. You can trust me.)  
  
What am I going to, Steeler thought to himself in despair. If the Baroness is out in the open, she'll be killed. There must be a way. There must be a way to take out the Commander and Destro, and for me to remain with the Baroness. Maybe if I told her-no, that's too risky.  
  
Steeler felt a hand on his right shoulder, near his collar, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.  
  
"Jesus!" he cried as he whirled around to face an amused Destro.  
  
"I happened to see you coming down the hall, deep in thought. May I ask what you are doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with the Baroness right now, making love with her?"  
  
"I don't think that's any of your business," Steeler said coldly. "But if you must know, I was such a superman in bed this morning that I frankly wore her out. You know, after having twenty stupendous orgasms in one night, even a horny lady like the Baroness can have her limits."  
  
Behind his metal mask, Destro's eyes narrowed, and he smiled maliciously.  
  
"Go on and have your fun," Destro said, "But I'll be watching you."  
  
The two enemies stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Destro walked away. Steeler watched him leave for a few moments, and then turned back, continuing on his way.  
  
"Wonder what that was about," he whispered to himself.  
  
Beneath his right collar, a small, flat, metallic object the size of dime rested. Its small red light blinked on and off, silently but steadily.  
  
* * *  
  
Be here in another month or so for a (hopefully) exciting chapter as the Joes finally wage war against Cobra once again. This story is FAR from over!!! 


	21. Take the Shot

On a pair of laptop computers, Mainframe looked through the video feeds he was getting from the network of Cobra's security cameras. Through his hacked internet connection, he had access to all of Cobra's video surveillance cameras, which amounted to hundreds of filmed locations to choose from. He also had managed to tap into all of Cobra's phone lines and radio transmissions, whose job it was Zarana's to monitor. So far, their access had gone undetected.  
  
Mainframe watched camera 212 with special interest. It showed Shipwreck in his prison cell. At precisely 7:00 AM, a group of six Cobra Crimson Guards came down to the cell and unlocked the door. Mainframe fingered the headset he wore to keep in communication with all of the Joes. Every Joe was equipped with a hidden earpiece and microphone, which enabled each of them to communicate with one another over a common frequency.  
  
"Right on schedule," Mainframe muttered as he leaned forward to watch the images of Shipwreck being led out of his prison, out into the courtyard for his televised execution. The image from camera 212 was one of nine camera feeds from various areas of the Cobra Ziggurat, playing simultaneously on his computer.  
  
"Subject is in motion," Mainframe spoke into the microphone of his headset.  
  
* * *  
  
It was the signal Scarlett had been waiting for. Most of the other Cobra rank and file had gone out as ordered to the great courtyard where, at this moment, Cobra Commander was addressing the empire on national television. However, Scarlett, along with Snake Eyes and Cover Girl, had hung back near the stairwell, which led down to the basement dungeon.  
  
"Cover us," Scarlett said into her microphone, signaling Mainframe to tamper with the video feed from camera 199, the camera that monitored the corridor just outside of the stairwell. Mainframe would take two minutes of static video footage from camera 199 and loop it so that it would play over and over. Hopefully, none of the televipers in the control room of the Cobra tower would wise up to what was happening.  
  
Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl, dressed in the garb of Cobra troopers, positioned themselves and readied their weapons. The stairwell from below opened out into a winding, narrow corridor that contained a number of side corridors. It was an excellent place to stage an ambush. Scarlett hid around the corner of one such side passage. Snake Eyes and Cover Girl hid around the corner on the opposite side. Scarlett poked her head around the corner and spotted the Crimson Guards taking Shipwreck their way, approaching from a distance of about twenty yards and closing.  
  
Scarlett, looking across the way to Snake Eyes and Cover Girl, pointed her finger in the direction of the approaching men and made a fist, followed by a pantomime of her hand cutting her throat. It was the signal for attack. Snake Eyes and Scarlett reached into their packs for their weapons of choice, each of them arming themselves with a pair of short ninja swords. Cover Girl pulled out her silenced pistol and shut her eyes for a second, trying to focus herself. She was so nervous. Just yards away, Shipwreck was coming, guarded by six Crimson Guards.  
  
Please, Cover Girl prayed silently, please let this work. We can't fail now, not after we've come so far.  
  
The moving shadows of the seven men were coming their way now. The three Joes, from their hiding place, could tell that they were less than ten yards away. Snake Eyes nudged Cover Girl. It was time to act.  
  
Without a second thought, Cover Girl leapt from her position of cover, toward the other side, where Scarlett was hidden. For just one second, she was in plain sight, right in front of Shipwreck and the six Cobras. The Cobras were caught by surprise, and in the initial confusion, Cover Girl squeezed off two rounds from her pistol before diving for the opposite side corridor. She managed to take out one of the lead Crimson Guards. Cover Girl briefly wondered what Shipwreck was thinking now that he was seeing her again in such strange circumstances, but then she remembered that her face was covered by a mask. Shipwreck was probably just as confused as his Crimson Guard captors, wondering what the hell was going on. Before the rest of the Cobras could even return fire, Scarlett and Snake Eyes jumped into the fray.  
  
* * *  
  
The Cobra elite sat together in a row on a large elevated platform. Behind them, a gigantic projection screen, as large as an IMAX format screen, had been erected. Cobra Commander stood at the forefront of the stage, speaking into the microphones that had been placed on the podium. His loyal legions were all gazing up at him in rapt admiration, raising their fists and cheering. There must have been around 8,000 Cobra soldiers gathered in the large courtyard. No one stationed in the Washington, DC area would dare miss this event. The execution of a Joe, and the launching of an attack on the rest of the free world? It was heaven.  
  
The IMAX screen showed large Cobra transport planes taking off and lumbering through the sky. Their destination: the skies of Europe. Meanwhile, the cameras cut to the harbors of New York City, where a fleet of air craft carriers were beginning their journey as well. The carriers would bring a swarm of Rattlers, Ravens, and flight pods to the European skies as well. With Destro's advanced weapons in their support, there was little doubt in the minds of the Cobras that they would ultimately emerge triumphant.  
  
"Behold the next phase of the war," Cobra Commander gestured to the screen behind him, and he was answered by a roar of approval from the crowd of Cobra soldiers.  
  
In the midst of the shouting Cobra crowd, Lady Jaye and Flint stood next to each other, anonymously dressed as Cobra troopers, and exchanged a nervous glance as they watched the proceedings. The rest of the world didn't stand a chance. If G.I. JOE didn't stop Cobra now, the entire world would fall to Cobra in a mere matter of weeks.  
  
"My God, would you look at that," Lady Jaye breathed in horror as she reached down and squeezed Flint's hand.  
  
"Low-Light," Flint whispered into his headset microphone, "ready on my command."  
  
"Acknowledged," came Low-Light's reply. He and Beach Head had been camped out on the forward rampart wall with their sniper rifles for several hours, waiting for this very moment.  
  
"A new era in the history of the world is beginning today," Cobra Commander pontificated as he gesticulated furiously on the podium.  
  
"We brought the great United States of America to its knees, and we shall do the same with the rest of the world, starting with the traditional American allies: Britain, France, and Germany. Our victory is not a matter of 'if,' but 'when.' History records that Germany swept through France in just six weeks in 1940. We shall annihilate the whole of Europe in a puny fraction of that time. Then our way of life will be truly safe and secure from the evils of democracy, once and for all!"  
  
Behind the Commander, the Baroness, Destro, Storm Shadow, Major Bludd, Tomax, Xamot, and Zartan sat in a row of chairs. Each of them was smartly dressed in their Cobra uniforms for the occasion. Although the Baroness was rolling her eyes at the Commander's last statement, the rest of the Cobra elite seemed to really be enjoying themselves, in spite of the Commander's bluster and bravado.  
  
Near the front of the stage, Steeler, dressed in his Cobra trooper uniform, anxiously watched and listened to the events as they unfolded. He knew at this very moment, the rescue operation of Shipwreck was taking place, and that all further action depended on the success of that operation. The rest of the Joes had to give Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl enough time. But if the rescue failed to happen quickly enough, the Joes would take their shots on the Cobra leaders. And at that point-  
  
Steeler fingered the palm-sized detonator in his pocket. All he had to do was wrap his fingers around it and depress the central button, and a large section of the Cobra fortress would blow sky-high.  
  
It couldn't be any simpler. Except-  
  
The Baroness was out there on the stage, out in the open. They would certainly shoot her as well, if they had the time and the opportunity.  
  
"Today, as we celebrate the beginning of a glorious new chapter in our history, we also celebrate the ending of another era: that of G.I. JOE."  
  
More cheers from the mindless crowd for the words of Cobra Commander.  
  
"Slowly, we are rooting the remnants of our arch-nemeses, who have been the thorn in our sides for so long. Today, one of those remnants, a man well known to us, will die a most deliciously excruciating death."  
  
Out in the middle of the audience, Flint turned and looked up behind him, at the tall walls of the forward ramparts. He could barely make out two shadowy figures patrolling the walkway at the top of that rampart, and he knew that Low-Light and Beach Head were waiting for the signal to set up their scoped rifles and take their shots. He turned again to the stage and noticed a televiper tapping Zartan on the shoulder at the end of the row of Cobra leaders. What was he telling him? Was he informing Zartan that there was a breach in security? Zartan inconspicuously rose and followed the televiper off the stage, a concerned look on his face, from what Flint could tell. Had Grunt and Clutch, whose job it was to procure some vehicles and heavy weapons to aid the Joes in their escape, been caught? Unlikely, Flint decided. His mind turned to Scarlett and her team. What was going on in that fortress?  
  
* * *  
  
Scarlett and Snake Eyes dove forward with their swords. The remaining five Crimson Guards brought their weapons to bear.  
  
"Get down, Shipwreck!" Scarlett cried, and the terrified Shipwreck, his hands manacled behind him, automatically obeyed. The Crimson Guardsmen, who had formed a circle around Shipwreck, fell one by one in quick succession as Scarlett and Snake Eyes mercilessly cut and hacked through them with their swords. The terrified Crimson Guardsmen managed to scream for a few seconds and get off a few loud bursts of assault weapons fire, before they were all cut down. The fight was over in a matter of seconds. While Scarlett instructed Shipwreck to stay still while she shot his manacles apart, releasing his hands, Snake Eyes nursed a cut in his right upper arm, where a bullet had grazed his triceps.  
  
"You all right?" Scarlett asked Snake Eyes, giving him a look of concern.  
  
Snake Eyes, tearing a strip off the uniform from one of the dead Crimson Guards, quickly wrapped his arm in a tight dressing and gave a thumbs-up to Scarlett. Scarlett smiled.  
  
"What-what's going on here?" Shipwreck asked in a dazed voice. Cover Girl, emerging from her position of cover, ran toward the three Joes and dropped to her knees in front of Shipwreck. They faced each other, eye to eye.  
  
Cover Girl was deeply pained to see Shipwreck in such a sorry state. His face was bruised, his lips cut, his overall appearance gaunt.  
  
"Oh, Shipwreck," she whispered, "what have they done to you?"  
  
Shipwreck could not see her face behind the mask, but he knew that voice. It was HER voice, the voice he had longed to hear for almost two years. The voice of the woman he loved.  
  
The voice of Cover Girl.  
  
"Is it really you?" he asked Cover Girl, not daring to hope, afraid that he was losing his mind.  
  
Slowly, Cover Girl took down the black mask that covered her face from the nose down and removed the blue helmet. While Scarlett and Snake Eyes stood a few feet away and looked on, Shipwreck reached forward with his hands and placed them on either side of Cover Girl's face, as if to assure himself that the beautiful woman kneeling in front of him was flesh and blood and not a cruel illusion. She closed her eyes and relished feeling the warmth of Shipwreck's rough sailor hands. How long had Cover Girl lived in anguish, knowing that her last words to this man were words that had caused him such deep pain and heartbreak?  
  
I'm so sorry, Cover Girl wanted to say. I'm sorry you suffered so much. Your suffering became my suffering. Your trials became my trials. Your joys became my joys. I want you to know that I thought about you, Shipwreck. I thought about you every day that we were apart. I saw you falling from that bridge, and the memory refused to leave me. It stayed with me, gnawing at my heart, and I knew I needed to see you again, even if for just one moment, to set things right between us. And now that we're together again, how can I say the words? How can I open my heart to you and express all I could never share with you before? How can I love you the way I was never able to before?  
  
But as Cover Girl knelt there with her hands demurely resting on her knees and Shipwreck's hands cupping her face, she opened her eyes, and through her nascent tears, she saw Shipwreck gazing back at her with gentleness in his eyes. She knew then that there was no need to say anything, that all was forgiven between them, that they could truly start anew in friendship and love, and she smiled.  
  
"You're alive," Shipwreck said to her in wonder as he pulled her to him and embraced her.  
  
"I'm so glad," Shipwreck said as Cover Girl put her arms around him and her body was wracked by a powerful sob.  
  
"I'll never let you go again," Cover Girl promised softly.  
  
* * *  
  
Flint heard Scarlett's voice say the words he had been waiting to hear, the coded words that signified that Shipwreck had been rescued.  
  
"Operation Albatross successful."  
  
"Low-Light and Beach Head," Flint said into his microphone.  
  
The moment was perfect. Cobra Commander was finishing his ridiculous speech, the Baroness and Destro were still hanging out on the stage, and no one had yet raised the alarm. They would never have an opportunity this good again to kill Cobra Commander.  
  
"Ready," Low-Light said.  
  
"Ready," Beach Head also said.  
  
"Take the shot," Flint ordered.  
  
"No!" Steeler's voice came on, staying the snipers' hand.  
  
"What's the problem?" Beach Head said, confused.  
  
"The Baroness. You can't hurt her. Don't shoot the Baroness!"  
  
"What are you, crazy?" Flint hissed. "Why the hell not?"  
  
Every second of delay risked discovery of the plot to assassinate the Cobra leaders. Every second they wasted chatting over this radio connection compounded that risk a thousand times over.  
  
"Because-"  
  
"Because what?"  
  
"I love her," Steeler said.  
  
The radio went dead silent. Every one of the Joes-Flint, Lady Jaye, Grunt, Clutch, Beach Head, Low-Light, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Cover Girl, Mainframe, and Zarana-had heard what Steeler had just uttered over the open channel. It was madness. A million thoughts ran through Flint's mind. Could Steeler still be trusted? He had spent so much time in the Cobra fortress, away from the Joes. It was like Dusty, all over again.  
  
"Flint, your orders?" Low-Light ventured hesitantly.  
  
"Take the shot," Flint ordered resolutely. "Cobra Commander first, followed by the Baroness, Destro, and anyone else you can get a bead on. That's an order."  
  
"Please," Steeler pleaded.  
  
"Damn you to hell, Steeler!" Flint cried.  
  
Lady Jaye looked about her and Flint with alarm, but in the loudness of the cheering taking place all around them, none of the other Cobras next to them was paying attention to a word Flint was saying.  
  
"Take the shot!" Flint yelled for the last time.  
  
At the front of the stage, Steeler shut his eyes and fingered the detonator trigger. The moment of truth had come at last.  
  
I cannot allow you to harm the woman I love, Steeler thought to himself, imagining that he was addressing Flint and the others at this exact moment.  
  
"Forgive me," Steeler whispered as he jammed the button on the detonator, just one second before Low-Light was about to fire a bullet into Cobra Commander's head.  
  
Instantly, a massive explosion ripped through the middle of the Cobra tower, rending the film projection screen to shreds and showering the entire stage and courtyard with fiery debris. 


	22. War

Out in the courtyard, the scene was rapidly dissolving into one of confusion and chaos. Flint and Lady Jaye, disguised as Cobra troopers, shoved and jostled their way forward, where, a hundred yards away, Steeler was advancing on the stage.  
  
"Steeler, you son of a bitch!" Flint screamed into his headset amidst the shouts of the thousands of Cobra soldiers scrambling to get out of the open and find out who was attacking them.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Flint said. In the distance, one man was climbing onto the stage, while everyone else was running back from the rain of fire, glass, and twisted steel that continued to pour from the damaged Cobra fortress tower.  
  
"I'm taking out the Commander now!" Steeler yelled. He knew he had just blown the Joes' element of surprise, and that assassinating the Cobra leaders had just become a bit more difficult than originally planned.  
  
"You'll get yourself killed, you asshole," Flint said. He turned rapidly and scanned the entire field. The Cobras near the stage were falling back, scattering, while a few men had come forward with fire extinguishers to put out the flames caused by Steeler's prematurely exploded bombs. On the stage, all of the Cobra leaders, Cobra Commander, Destro, Major Bludd, Storm Shadow, Tomax, and Xamot were lying on the floor. Some of them appeared dazed by the explosion and the rain of debris from above.  
  
As Flint neared the stage with Lady Jaye, he saw Steeler shove one of the Cobra firemen out of the way as he produced his pistol.  
  
"Damnit," Flint said, "Low-Light, Beach-Head, cover him!"  
  
Half of the stage was on fire as Steeler climbed on and noted that the Baroness had been knocked unconscious. He ran to her, turned her onto her back and breathed a sigh of relief when he noted that she was still breathing. There was no time for the Baroness right now. Right now he needed to find Cobra Commander and kill him without another moment's hesitation.  
  
There was a loud gunshot, and a thumping sound behind Steeler. He knew that he had two snipers covering him from the front wall, at one end of the courtyard.  
  
"Tomax!" Xamot screamed in agony, writhing on the floor behind Steeler, next to the fallen body of Tomax. A second shot took out Xamot as he raised a pistol at Steeler's back.  
  
Cobra Commander was on his knees, having falling backward from the podium after the blast. He saw Steeler approaching with a pistol in hand and weakly raised his own pistol. Steeler easily kicked the gun out of Cobra Commander's hand and stood before him with his gun to the Commander's head.  
  
"Who-who are you?" Cobra Commander gasped.  
  
Steeler ripped off his trooper's mask and revealed his face to Cobra Commander.  
  
"We're G.I. JOE," Steeler said proudly. "Say good night-"  
  
In the instant before Steeler pulled the trigger, Destro, who lay frozen on the ground, realized that he and the other Cobra leaders were under sniper fire. He also recognized Steeler's voice, and knew at once that this was the man the Baroness had been sleeping with all this time. This was the same man he had interrogated almost two years ago in the dungeon. It was the Joe they called Steeler. How could he not have known this before? The sudden insight filled him with hot anger.  
  
He was fairly well protected from the snipers' fire by a slab of concrete. Knowing he had to act at once, Destro fired a pair of stun rockets from his wrist band. The small projectiles exploded on Steeler's back, causing him to drop the pistol and fall to the floor with a loud grunt.  
  
Destro turned to Storm Shadow, who was lying on the ground next to him.  
  
"Now," Destro ordered, "Evacuate the Commander!"  
  
Without hesitation, Storm Shadow leapt from his position of cover and crossed the distance of ten feet that separated him from Steeler and Cobra Commander. Unable to get a clear shot at Cobra Commander, the Baroness, or Destro due to the debris and smoke, Low-Light and Beach-Head were sniping at anything that moved, which in this case happened to be Storm Shadow. The Cobra ninja deftly evaded the sniper fire, grabbed Cobra Commander with one arm, and leapt off the stage and out of sight.  
  
"Shit!" Flint cried in dismay as he watched the primary target slip out of his view.  
  
"Low-Light, Beach Head, what's your situation up there?" Flint said, turning around. He saw that a large number of Cobras had identified the location of the snipers and were firing on their position. Hundreds of bullets were flying through the air, most of them directed toward the two Joe snipers.  
  
Beach Head's voice was slightly distorted from all the surrounding noise of the battle.  
  
"We're in deep shit, Flint. We don't have a shot. I repeat, we do not have a shot!"  
  
"Then get your asses out of there!" Lady Jaye yelled.  
  
"Grunt, Clutch," Flint said into his headset, "Talk to me, guys."  
  
Clutch's voice came over the intercom, with the whirling sound of a chopper's blades in the background.  
  
"We've got choppers; we'll be on the field in five minutes!"  
  
Under the blanket of the general panic and hysteria gripping the Cobra legions, Flint and Lady Jaye added to the pandemonium as they rapidly cut a swatch through several squads of Cobra troopers, firing and dropping grenades, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Major Bludd was waiting for them as they both leapt onto the stage to take back Steeler from Destro. From behind an area of the stage that was on fire, Major Bludd, from a kneeling position, drew pistols in both hands, but Lady Jaye spotted him and fired her weapon first, taking out Bludd with a shot between the eyes.  
  
On top of being on fire, the stage was littered with fallen metallic and concrete debris and dead and unconscious bodies. One of those bodies belonged to Steeler, who Destro had managed to reach while Low-Light and Beach Head were pinned down by Cobra's return fire from below. Destro, holding Steeler by the shirt collar, looked back toward the advancing Flint and Lady Jaye. From the looks of it, it appeared that Destro was about to use the opportunity to shoot the unconscious Steeler in the head. However, before Destro could register a cry of alarm, Lady Jaye hastily shot him three times in the head, knocking him off his feet and causing him to release his grip on Steeler. As Flint and Lady Jaye raced to Steeler's side, tearing off their masks as they did so, Destro lay stunned on the floor, six feet away, the steel mask having prevented him from being killed by the gunshots.  
  
Meanwhile, a large number of Cobra troops had become aware of the presence of the enemy on the center stage, and they had begun to surround the stage, cutting off the Joes' escape. Several Cobras began taking shots at Flint and Lady Jaye as they struggled to drag Steeler to a cover behind a large steel plate. Bullets whizzed by, clanging as they ricocheted off of metal. One of them came dangerously close to taking Lady Jaye's ear off.  
  
"Clutch," Flint yelled amidst the tumultuous noise, "we are cut off! Where the hell are you?"  
  
There was no response from Clutch's end, or Grunt's, for that matter. That meant that either something had happened to interfere with the signal, or Mainframe was having problems of his own on his end. The Joes were all on their own now, at least until they could find their separate ways back to their rendezvous point, a meeting planned for six weeks from today.  
  
What's happening with the others? Flint wondered.  
  
* * *  
  
At that moment, Beach Head and Low-Light were having serious problems of their own, stuck at the top of the front wall of the fortress rampart. With bullets coming in from below, there was no way they could get off a shot in support of Flint and Lady Jaye. They had been spotted, and now it was time to get out.  
  
With sweat running down his forehead, Low-Light quickly checked the exterior grounds below. Cobras were beginning to run into the streets below, positioning themselves to cut off avenues of escape for the attackers. He and Beach Head both were equipped with long ropes attached to grappling hooks, so they could rappel down the exterior wall of the fortress, if their other means of escape were cut off.  
  
"They're coming up the elevators!" Beach Head pointed to the elevators situated on both ends of the block-long walkway. The bodies of the Cobras they had taken out earlier this morning were still visible on the floor, stashed away like garbage on the east end.  
  
The two of them were in deep shit now, if they weren't in it before. The elevators opened on both sides, and Cobra Crimson Guardsmen came rushing toward them. Being charged from both sides, without any sort of cover from gunfire was definitely not a situation that favored staying alive for longer than two minutes.  
  
"Drop your weapons!" one of the Crimson Guards shouted.  
  
"Here they come, get them!" Beach Head yelled as he dropped his sniper rifle and opened fire with an assault rifle. Low-Light slung his trusty rifle over his shoulder and drew his semiautomatic pistol. With their backs to each other, each of them facing one end of the walkway, the two Joes opened fire on the Cobras, who also opened fire at the same time.  
  
When the firing had stopped, the Joes found that they were still alive, and that they had killed the eight Cobras, who had charged them from both sides. But Low-Light had been shot in the left shoulder, and Beach Head was shot in the stomach and right thigh.  
  
"Son of a bitch!" Beach Head yelled in pain as he clutched his stomach. "SON OF A BITCH!"  
  
"What are we going to do now, Beach Head?" Low-Light said. "We won't last another frontal attack like this."  
  
"Is your rope ready?" Beach Head rasped.  
  
Low-Light glanced to his side and checked that the grappling hook had good purchase on the interior wall. A rope attached to the hook led out an open window to the outside, and the street below.  
  
"Yes sir," Low-Light said. The elevator doors on both sides remained closed, but the floor indicator lights at the top of the doors showed the elevator cars were just two floors away, and closing.  
  
"Then move it," Beach Head said. "That's an order."  
  
"What, and leave you behind? Are you crazy?"  
  
Beach Head turned on Low-Light and grabbed him by his uniform.  
  
"You just haul ass, soldier. Fucking MOVE!"  
  
With that, Beach Head shoved Low-Light toward the wall, and Low-Light staggered to find his rope. He looked down and saw Cobras running in the streets below, not yet aware that he was about to jump out the window and rappel down a height of fourteen stories.  
  
The elevator doors opened, and more Cobras came pouring out from both ends, this time a squad of Vipers.  
  
"Go, go, go!" Beach Head grabbed Low-Light and practically hurled him out the open window, and Low-Light, grabbing onto his rope for dear life, flew out the window. Whatever happened next, Beach Head never found out. He threw a grenade down the west side of the walkway, taking out the enemy coming in from that direction. Bullets tore into him from behind, from the east end, and he fell to the floor, his other grenade still in his hand.  
  
Amidst the acrid smoke, the five Vipers approached cautiously from the east, their assault weapons raised. Stepping over blood, dead bodies, and empty bullet casings, the Vipers drew closer to Beach Head. The lead Viper narrowed his eyes with suspicion at the sight of the lone enemy who was disguised as a Cobra trooper. He was still breathing, his breath coming and going in shallow, rapid rasps.  
  
Beach Head, lying on his left side, regarded his approaching enemy with narrowed, hateful eyes. They were just five yards away now.  
  
"I got a little present for you," Beach Head whispered as he rolled a live grenade toward them, before they could shoot him dead.  
  
* * *  
  
With his hands firm on the rope, Low-Light swiftly began rappelling down the face of the front wall of the fortress, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder. After climbing down to the level of the tenth floor, he felt himself grow dizzy from the pain, and he looked up to see the grenade explosions from Beach Head's position.  
  
He's gone, the thought registered through Low-Light's mind. He's really gone. How many more will have to die before this is over?  
  
A bullet whizzed past Low-Light's head, missing by mere inches. It slammed into the concrete wall. Low-Light realized he was being shot at, and in a moment of panic, he let go of the rope. He was falling, falling, felt himself blacking out-  
  
Low-Light grabbed the rope again with all his remaining strength. He was halfway down, and he was swinging from side to side. Cobras were still shooting at him. Maybe half a dozen or more were trying to kill him.  
  
Grabbing the rope with his good arm, Low-Light reached for his pistol with his wounded arm and took aim on one of the Cobra Vipers firing at him.  
  
"Bastards, eat this!" he cried, blasting the Viper with one shot.  
  
With the help of his legs and his one good arm, Low-Light climbed down the rope as fast as possible, his back to the wall, his pistol firing on the Cobra Vipers. Despite his wound, he could still aim and shoot, and he managed to pick off three more Vipers, just standing there in the street. They thought he would be easy pickings, but damn it, they thought wrong. More Vipers were coming at him, taking up cover behind some parked cars on the street.  
  
Low-Light felt a bullet pierce his left thigh, and he cried out in pain. He was just two stories from the ground. Below him was an area of grass, with bushes that would offer some cover from the advancing enemy. Shutting his eyes, Low-Light let go of the rope and fell to the ground, all while bullets continued to fly at him from all directions.  
  
* * *  
  
In the courtyard, Destro had regained consciousness and ordered the Cobras firing on the stage to cease firing. Hundreds of Cobra troops surrounded the stage, cutting off all escape for the three Joes, Flint, Lady Jaye, and Steeler. Steeler, having just regained consciousness, looked around him, his eyes dazed.  
  
"What happened?" he asked.  
  
The Baroness had just come to as well, and she stood next to Destro, who in the middle of the damaged, littered, and burned stage, faced the three disarmed and unmasked Joes with a pistol.  
  
They had all seen the explosions at the top of the front rampart, and Destro had received confirmation that one enemy Joe had been killed. The Joe had not been identified. Flint, however, knew that at least one of his friends had gotten out, although he did not know which one.  
  
"What now?" Destro asked Cobra Commander through the radio. Storm Shadow had spirited the Commander away to a safe location outside of the Cobra fortress, where he was now monitoring the battle and giving orders via radio transmissions.  
  
"Hold them," Cobra Commander said. "We'll execute them all after the battle is over."  
  
Destro cut the radio transmission and turned to face his three captive Joes.  
  
"Ah, Flint and Lady Jaye," Destro said as he paced back and forth in front of the prisoners, who eyed him silently.  
  
"How serendipitous that we have found you at last. I'm surprised you managed to make it this far, but this is the end of the road for you. We know you have comrades elsewhere on the premises, and rest assured, we are rooting them out and crushing them at this very moment."  
  
About a thousand troops remained on the courtyard grounds, surrounding the stage and watching the drama unfold with their guns raised and ready. A few soldiers were busy carrying off the dead and wounded from the field. From inside and outside of the fortress came the sounds of yelling, gunfire, and explosions, indicating that the war continued to rage on, unseen by those standing on the stage.  
  
Destro turned to Steeler.  
  
"So we meet again, Steeler," Destro said softly before punching him hard in the stomach. Steeler gasped and doubled over. Vipers standing by stepped forward to grab Steeler and keep him on his feet as well as prevent him from fighting back.  
  
"So this is the man you've taken to your bed, Anastasia," Destro addressed the Baroness with scorn, his eyes still focused on Steeler.  
  
Destro turned and pointed his gun at the Baroness' head.  
  
"I should shoot you right now, you traitor."  
  
The Baroness blanched. Her eyes widened with fear.  
  
"Destro," she pleaded, "what are you saying? I did not know."  
  
"You were in love with this man, were you not? How can you be so close to someone and not know such a basic fact as that?"  
  
"I never loved him," the Baroness said. "We just slept together, it wasn't anything more than that. I never knew he was a Joe spy. To me he was just a toy."  
  
Steeler heard this exchange in shock. How could the Baroness deny her feeling for him like this? She was just trying to save her own skin, he realized. Steeler and the Baroness exchanged a brief glance, and the Baroness saw the hurt in his eyes. Steeler saw the guilt written on the face of the Baroness, as if she wanted to tell him, I'm so sorry, Steeler.  
  
"I see," Destro said with a touch of sarcasm. "So your loyalty was never in question. You never knew he was a Joe who was conspiring to destroy us all. You were a complete innocent."  
  
The Baroness nodded.  
  
It was a frozen moment. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Flint and Lady Jaye looked at each other blankly, then at Steeler, who was staring helplessly at the Baroness. So he really does love her, Lady Jaye thought to herself.  
  
Destro grabbed the Baroness with one arm and drew her close to him.  
  
"I should shoot you, my dear," he whispered so that only she could hear, "but I won't. As of this moment, you are too valuable to the Cobra cause. You command the loyalties of how many thousands, I don't even know. I'm not a fool."  
  
The Baroness smirked at Destro, trying her best to appear arrogant and unafraid. They both knew it was an act.  
  
"But know this," Destro said with menace, "if Cobra Commander knew of your relationship with this Joe, it would mean the end of your life, your value to us would be shot down to nothing. I alone have the power to destroy you. From now on, you BELONG to me and no one else."  
  
He pulled her closer, and their hips bumped together. The rough sexual overtones of Destro's words were unmistakable.  
  
The sounds of helicopter blades grew louder and louder, and Destro looked up in alarm. Two FANG choppers were hovering over the courtyard, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere.  
  
What the hell? Destro thought.  
  
One of the FANG choppers broke off and fired a pair of missiles at the soldiers surrounding the stage. There was a loud explosion, and dozens of burning bodies and body parts flew through the air.  
  
It's Grunt and Clutch, Flint thought with elation as he, Lady Jaye, and Steeler turned on their Viper captors and punched and kicked them off the stage. Grabbing one of the fallen Viper's rifles, Steeler fired off several rounds, hitting Destro in the head, shoulder, and chest. He ran toward Destro, intending to finish him off, when Lady Jaye yelled at him to hurry up and grab hold of Clutch's chopper. While Grunt was attacking the crowd of Cobras surrounding the stage, Clutch had maneuvered his chopper just above the stage, motioning for the Joes to grab onto the landing bars. Throwing away the rifle, Steeler reached for the Baroness, who had stood by, stunned, while Destro had gotten shot right next to her.  
  
"Come with us," Steeler yelled as he shook the Baroness out of her trance. There was precious little time. Grunt could only hold off the Cobras for so long. Already, some of the Cobra troopers were returning fire at Grunt. It wouldn't be long before Grunt would have to either pull out or be shot down.  
  
"Come on!" Steeler repeated, tugging at the Baroness' arm.  
  
The Baroness looked into Steeler's eyes with a tortured expression. She was torn inside, as she had never been in her whole life. Leave with Steeler, and what would happen? It would be a hard life, a life on the run, always looking over your shoulder for Cobra, never knowing if each day would be your last. It would be a hard life, fighting a losing battle. G.I. JOE was destined to lose this war, she decided. It had been obvious from the night Hawk had fallen at the Battle of Washington, DC. To continue to resist as the Joes were doing now was utterly futile. Leave with Steeler, her inner voice told her, and you'll have a hard life, but you'll have love. But stay-  
  
And what would happen? She would continue to live her life of comfort and power. It would be a cold, loveless life, sharing the bed of Destro, who sounded like his interest in her was entirely sexual. But was that so bad? Maybe, she mused cynically, this was the way the world was meant to be. This is not a world where true love and silly romantic dreams are possible. It was a world where dreams died.  
  
"No," the Baroness said, her voice trembling, and Steeler could see that she was afraid. It was the classic situation, he considered. He was the poor man with nothing, who loved her. Destro was the rich man with everything, who despised her. Her heart told her to go with Steeler and leave her life behind, but something stopped her. It was her fear, the fear of a life of uncertainty. She was incapable of taking the losing side in a war. She needed something she could count on, something that made sense. Cobra was that foundation for her, that thing that she could count on. In that moment of insight, Steeler understood everything.  
  
"I'm sorry," the Baroness said, a tear in her eye.  
  
Steeler heard Flint cursing and yelling at him from Clutch's chopper, and he knew the time had come. Without hesitating, he put one arm around her waist and kissed the Baroness hungrily. She could only lean her arms on his chest and kiss him back with all of her strength.  
  
When their lips broke apart, they gazed at each other for a second, a second that seemed to last forever. We could have been happy together, Steeler thought to himself, and he was sure the Baroness was thinking the same thing. We could have been happy together, but something kept us apart. There was a wall between us that our love could not overcome. But all the same, I still love you. I still love you, even after you denied me and refused to come live your life with me. I don't hate you for that. In another world, in another life, we could have shared a life together. Maybe we'll never meet again. But you'll always be in my thoughts, my prayers, my dreams.  
  
"I love you," Steeler said.  
  
Steeler turned and with a running jump, grabbed hold of the FANG landing bar. Flint stood on one landing bar, while Lady Jaye stood on the other. With Steeler grabbing hold, Flint yelled for Clutch to take off and get out.  
  
"Grunt!" Clutch yelled into his radio. "We are OUT OF HERE!"  
  
"Acknowledged!" Grunt yelled back, firing his last missile at the Cobra soldiers as he pulled away, all while Cobra troopers fired on both his and Clutch's departing chopper. They lifted high above the walls of the fortress and then turned to head northwest.  
  
As the Baroness stood silently on the stage, watching the choppers leave, silhouetted against the early morning sun, she saw Vipers and Cobra troopers run onto the stage, toward her and Destro. Destro was still alive, though wounded.  
  
"After those choppers," he gasped at one of the Vipers. "Pursue them and give no quarter."  
  
"Lord Destro," one of the Vipers said, "shouldn't we get you to the medical unit?"  
  
"No!" Destro hissed. "Bandage my wounds for now and take me to the control tower."  
  
"Yes, Lord," the Viper answered as he and another Viper lifted Destro to his feet and helped him off the stage.  
  
As the Baroness watched the choppers carry Steeler away from her, she felt herself tortured by her shame and her guilt. Why? Why couldn't I go with him? What stopped me? Why didn't I have the strength?  
  
"I love you," she whispered. 


	23. The Sacrifice

Having rescued Shipwreck, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl were making their way to one of the giant vehicle holding areas, where they planned to steal some choppers and fly out of the fortress, when everything fell apart.  
  
Everything had seemed fine at the point when Shipwreck had been rescued. The Joes had managed to defeat Shipwreck's guards, and they had managed to escape from another squad of Viper reinforcements. Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl could only exchange some puzzled, worried glances as they listened to the radio exchanges between Flint, Steeler, Low-Light, and Beach Head. Everything was in place, the snipers awaited the order to fire, but now Steeler was fouling everything up, suddenly confessing his love for the Baroness and getting cold feet. What the hell was going on?  
  
"Take the shot!" Flint cried over the radio.  
  
At that point, as Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Cover Girl, and Shipwreck were nearing one of the vehicle holding areas, a series of explosions set off by Steeler ripped through multiple areas of the fortress. The force of one of the blasts shook the four Joes off their feet and caused the ceiling in front of them to collapse and cave in with a shower of smoke and rubble.  
  
Scarlett cursed as she looked up from a prone position and saw that the way to the vehicle holding area was now completely obstructed. They were now at the end of a dead end hallway, where, twenty yards behind them, a pair of side corridors converged near an elevator.  
  
"Damn it!" Scarlett said. "We were so close!"  
  
"Flint, what's going on?" Cover Girl spoke into her transmitter as the four Joes got up and brushed themselves off. Armed with assault rifles, the four Joes cautiously made their way for the elevator.  
  
There was no response.  
  
"We've lost the signal," Cover Girl said. The four Joes looked at one another blankly. They were cut off from the outside and on their own.  
  
"Then we'll have to find another way out of here by ourselves," Scarlett said.  
  
A Viper soldier appeared above the four Joes, looking down on them from the floor above through the hole created by one of the bombs. He spotted Shipwreck and immediately grew suspicious.  
  
"You down there, identify yourselves," he said, raising his gun and aiming it through the hole, at Scarlett.  
  
Scarlett didn't think twice. She immediately pulled up her assault rifle at the same time as the enemy above her, and the two fired on each other simultaneously, point blank.  
  
"AUUGHH!" Scarlett screamed as she dropped to her knees in agony. She had shot the Viper dead, but one of the Viper's bullets had gotten her. Snake Eyes and the others ran to her side at the sight of the bloody exit wound in Scarlett's left flank. She had shifted her gun to her left hand, and with her right, she clutched her upper left abdomen, just below her breast.  
  
"Scarlett!" Cover Girl cried in alarm. She looked up and saw two more Vipers above them. Cover Girl quickly fired two shots, dropping one of them, who tumbled face forward and bounced on the concrete rubble, landing at her feet.  
  
"Behind us!" Shipwreck called out, opening fire on the five Vipers who had come up from the elevator and now approached them from a distance of twenty yards. Shipwreck and Cover Girl both turned around in a crouching position and fired on the Vipers, while Snake Eyes quickly armed a grenade and lobbed it through the hole in the ceiling at the Vipers above them. At the same time, Cover Girl hurled a grenade down the corridor at the three remaining Vipers, taking them all out.  
  
The hallway, like much of the rest of the Cobra fortress was now a complete chaos of smoke and the screams of dying men.  
  
"There will be more," Scarlett said through gritted teeth as Snake Eyes grabbed her and helped her to her feet. Scarlett was growing woozy; she was losing blood and would need medical attention fast. But first the Joes needed to get out of this firefight to a position of relative safety. They were pinned down in this nightmarish maze. Snake Eyes hoisted her over his left shoulder and carried her toward the elevator like a sack of potatoes, following the lead of Shipwreck and Cover Girl. They stepped gingerly over the bodies of the slain Vipers and made it to the elevator without incident.  
  
Shipwreck jabbed the button to call the elevator back to their floor. The plan was now to somehow escape through the underground entrance.  
  
"Come on, come ON!" Shipwreck said impatiently, as he turned to look to his left, right, and behind.  
  
Scarlett saw them first. Another group of Vipers approached them from the right, taking cover around the corners of the side corridors as they made their way toward the Joes at the T-shaped intersection. Hoisted over Snake Eyes' shoulder, she saw them and managed to lift her gun and fire. Scarlett's shots missed completely. She felt her vision growing blurry, and her head was spinning.  
  
What's happening, she wondered to herself.  
  
I don't even feel the pain. I feel myself growing light in the head. Am I dying? Is this what it feels like? I can't die here, not in a place like this. Still so much I wanted to do. So many things left undone, so many words left unsaid.  
  
The four Joes were sitting ducks. The Vipers were covering each other in a more organized fashion, making it difficult for the Joes to nail them. Meanwhile, the Joes were out in the open with absolutely no cover. Scarlett wiggled and pushed herself out of Snake Eyes' grip as he assumed a crouching position, along with Cover Girl and Shipwreck. Lying prone on the floor, Scarlett used what strength she had left to squeeze off a few more rounds on the incoming Vipers. They were now less than twenty yards away. A bullet struck Snake Eyes in the knee and knocked him backwards.  
  
"Snake Eyes!" Shipwreck yelled at the moment the elevator door finally opened. The elevator was empty, save for a dead Cobra trooper who lay slouched in a corner. Shipwreck and Cover Girl both turned to their side and saw the open elevator car, just a few feet away from them. They both turned to grab Scarlett and Snake Eyes, but Snake Eyes shook his head furiously and shoved both Cover Girl and Shipwreck into the elevator. He waved them off.  
  
"Go on," Scarlett said weakly as she lay on the floor and turned her head to face them, while Snake Eyes continued to fire what ammo remained in his assault rifle.  
  
"Get out of here!"  
  
For a moment that felt like an eternity, Shipwreck and Cover Girl stared wordlessly at the wounded Snake Eyes and Scarlett from across the threshold of the open elevator door. The bullets streamed past them, more of them hitting Scarlett and Snake Eyes. At that moment, they understood. Scarlett and Snake Eyes believed they would only slow them down. It was no longer possible for everyone to go home. They were willingly sacrificing themselves, giving up their own lives so that Cover Girl and Shipwreck could live. So much needed to be said at that moment, without the time to say it properly. Cover Girl wanted to thank them for everything they had gone through together over the years. They had all fought together in the old days when the whole team was together, Hawk and Duke were still alive, and it seemed like the good guys would always find a way to win in the end. But their lives hadn't turned out that way. Somehow, the world had been plunged into the deepest nightmare imaginable. And yet, even in this time of suffering and hardship, Cover Girl had enjoyed her time with Scarlett and Snake Eyes. They were part of the surviving few. Those who were left could only grow closer. Their lives depended on one another all the more. In the two years since G.I. JOE had gone underground, she felt as if the handful of survivors had become a true family. Now, once again, that family would be torn apart.  
  
The elevator doors began closing. Cover Girl stared helplessly into the eyes of Scarlett.  
  
Good-bye, Scarlett mouthed.  
  
"No!" Cover Girl cried, lunging forward to stop the elevator doors from closing. She felt the strong hands of Shipwreck grab her by the waist from behind and hold her in. The sound of Shipwreck's dropped weapon clanging on the elevator floor clanged throughout the closed car as they descended into the depths of the fortress, toward the underground passageway that led to the outside.  
  
"I didn't want to say good-bye," Cover Girl whispered through her tears as she let herself be held by Shipwreck.  
  
* * *  
  
Mortally wounded, Snake Eyes and Scarlett lay on the floor in front of the closed elevator doors, facing each other. Scarlett reached out with a bloodied hand and touched Snake Eyes' face. There was so much she wanted to tell him.  
  
We never got to live the life that was meant for you and me, Scarlett thought. When this was over, we would have finally been free to be together. We never got to make love to one another, or raise children and grow old together. I always cared for you, Snake Eyes. I knew you cared for me, too, because you risked your life to save mine. You saved me from a meaningless death, more than once. We lost each other for a time. We lost our connection, our bond. But we found it again, in the midst of all of this. And I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid because you are here with me, my strength, my love-- my life.  
  
The remaining Vipers were now just several feet away, approaching slowly, ready to finish them off. They did not notice the plastic explosive that Snake Eyes had planted on the wall, near the spot where he had fallen, or the fact that he still held the detonator in one of his hands. Snake Eyes waited for the last possible moment, when he would detonate the explosive and take out everyone in the vicinity.  
  
"I love you," Scarlett said.  
  
She looked into his eyes for the last time and knew that he had understood. And she felt glad.  
  
Snake Eyes jammed the trigger, and whatever feeling Scarlett had left was wiped out in a brief, violent instant of bright fire.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
Author's note: I did the unthinkable. Scarlett and Snake Eyes are gone. People are always upset when their favorite characters are killed off, this is coming from the same guy who wrote a bunch of Scarlet/Snake Eyes romances last year. It doesn't mean I'm some kind of sadist. Just try to bear with me and you'll see. 


	24. Cover Girl's Strength

Above them, Cover Girl and Shipwreck sensed the vibration of the explosion. It was undoubtedly the explosives set off by Snake Eyes that had ended both his own life and that of Scarlett. One moment the four of them were together, on their way to making it out of the Cobra tower alive. The next moment, Snake Eyes and Scarlett were gone, two of the most dependable members of G.I. JOE. If anyone could survive against all odds, it was those two. But even the infallible had their limits.  
  
The effect of this realization stunned Cover Girl like a ton of bricks. She quivered in shock as Shipwreck held her, reluctant tears streaming down her cheeks. They had gone through so much emotional turmoil in one day. In one day, she had found the man she cared for like no other, after so many months, while at the same time losing two of her most cherished friends. She kept whispering, "They're gone, can't believe they're gone," as Shipwreck consoled her with his gentle embrace.  
  
Shipwreck was the first to come to his senses. He looked up at the level indicator above the elevator doors. Within a matter of seconds, the elevator would reach the bottom level directly. The wheels in Shipwreck's head turned, and he quickly realized that he needed to change out of these clothes fast. He was dressed in the drab gray shirt-and-pants uniform of a prisoner. In this state of dress, he would be spotted immediately and shot, or worse. Shipwreck released Cover Girl, who tumbled forward and laid her hands to rest on the door. Meanwhile, Shipwreck had the presence of mind, or whatever was left of it, to jab the emergency STOP button on the control panel, just in time.  
  
"What are you doing?" Cover Girl whispered, her voice quivering as she wiped the tears away from her eyes.  
  
Shipwreck had already ripped off his shirt and was in the process of unbuttoning his pants.  
  
"Sorry, Cover Girl," Shipwreck said, "but no time for modesty here."  
  
"What?" Cover Girl blushed.  
  
"Don't just stand there, get his uniform off!" Shipwreck pointed at the dead Cobra trooper slouched in the corner. Cover Girl's eyes registered a light of understanding, and she rapidly got down to work on the dead man's buttons. She had hardly noticed the dead guy, all this time they were in the elevator. For a moment, she thought Shipwreck was going to suggest the two of them get it on, right there in the elevator. "Why Shipwreck," she would have playfully said, "don't you think we should get to know each other first?"  
  
Cover Girl smiled shyly.  
  
"What?" Shipwreck said as Cover Girl handed him his Cobra pants.  
  
"Nothing," Cover Girl said, averting her eyes.  
  
After a minute, Shipwreck had managed to throw on his new Cobra trooper uniform, thanks to the anonymous dead Cobra peon who had fortuitously been lying there dead in the elevator.  
  
Shipwreck extended his arms from both sides, displaying his new look for Cover Girl. He even gave a brief whirl in the elevator.  
  
"How do I look?"  
  
"Model soldier," Cover Girl said dryly as she punched the emergency STOP button again, setting the elevator back into motion. Shipwreck stooped again to pick up the fallen trooper's rifle. He noticed the blood stain on his belly, where the Cobra had been shot. This could potentially require a little acting, he thought to himself as the doors opened on the ground floor.  
  
Both of their masks were in place. Shipwreck put an arm around Cover Girl's shoulder and put some of his body weight against her, feigning the role of a wounded man. Cover Girl did not need an explanation this time. She quickly understood, and the two of them staggered out of the elevator together on the ground floor.  
  
The scene was quite chaotic, as it was in many parts of the burning fortress. Squads of Cobra troopers and Vipers ran down the long corridors to unseen destinations. A pair of Vipers ran up to meet Cover Girl and Shipwreck as the two of them got off the elevator.  
  
"Where'd you come from?" one of the Vipers demanded curtly.  
  
"Four Joes on Level Five," Cover Girl grunted. "They're giving us hell up there."  
  
The two Vipers turned to exchange looks.  
  
"Come on," one of them said. Both Vipers ran past the two disguised Joes and into the elevator. The rest of the Cobra soldiers ignored Cover Girl and Shipwreck as the two of them limped straightaway, right down the main path, past the unmanned security outposts, up the long stairwell that led to the streets above, outside the fortress walls.  
  
The two friends said nothing as they abandoned their act and ran up the stairwell. They passed a number of Cobras who were running the opposite direction, back into the fortress. Everyone was much too preoccupied to pay attention.  
  
When Cover Girl and Shipwreck reached the surface streets, they saw more chaotic activity. A number of cars had been turned over, small fires burned up and down the block, and everywhere around the block, they could see large stone and metal chunks of debris from the bombs that had been set off by Steeler. There was gunfire, maybe around a corner, some 100 yards away, perhaps. Could that be some of their friends out there, fighting with Cobra forces out in the streets? There was no time to even think about it. There was no thought of intervening. Cover Girl and Shipwreck walked away from the sounds of gunfire as quickly as their feet could carry them. Their sole purpose now was to get the hell out. With no means of communicating with the rest of the team, it was every man for themselves. As if she had suddenly remembered, Cover Girl reached into her ear and down her shirt for the earpiece and microphone, flinging both of them toward a trash-strewn gutter. She no longer had a use for them.  
  
Nothing stood in the way now. The two Joes took off running, away from the gunfire and the explosions and the shouts of dying men. They ran, hand in hand, past one block after another, each step taking them away from the madness, closer to freedom. They were young again, like children running together through open fields of green and flowers. They had run a full half- mile away from the Cobra capitol, until the tower was a small, smoking wreck in the distance. A large cloud of smoke rose from the tower, static, unmoving, and massive. Shipwreck finally pulled her aside into a deserted alleyway lined by rows of apartment buildings.  
  
The two of them were nearly intoxicated from their running and the joy of being free from that nightmarish Cobra fortress. They tore off their Cobra masks and helmets and collapsed to their knees on the sidewalk, facing each other. Sweat ran down both of their heads in beads, and their breaths came in and out rapidly.  
  
"Smile, Cover Girl," Shipwreck said. "We made it."  
  
Cover Girl threw herself forward into Shipwreck's arms, and her body once again was wracked by silent, stabbing sobs.  
  
"Our friends," Cover Girl said. "What if, what if they're all-"  
  
"No, don't talk like that," Shipwreck whispered to her softly, his lips near her ear. "There have to be others like us, others who were able to make it out of there alive. We have to be strong. We can't lose hope now, not after all this time, not after everything that's happened."  
  
Cover Girl calmed down, and she looked Shipwreck quietly in the eye. She was finding new respect for Shipwreck. Somehow, since that day when he had fallen from the Golden Gate Bridge, back in that time when the whole world seemed to go wrong, Shipwreck had changed somehow. He had not given up on his hope of finding his friends, after all his months of searching. He stood on the brink of dying, and he held out hope of seeing the woman he loved, just one last time. How had he been able to stay strong and unshakable in his faith? Cover Girl felt herself losing hope, more every minute. The remaining members of G.I. JOE had reunited for a last desperate campaign to rid the world of Cobra once and for all. The plot seemed to have ended in failure. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen at all. They were not supposed to lose contact so soon, Steeler was not supposed to set off those bombs when he did, and Scarlett and Snake Eyes were not supposed to die sacrificing their lives for them. Yet all these terrible things did in fact happen. G.I. JOE had taken their last best shot and failed. How could there be any hope left? After all this planning and preparation had gone for naught, Cover Girl felt herself physically and emotionally drained. She had given her all to this campaign, and she had nothing left. She had no strength left. But as she looked into Shipwreck's steely eyes, a sudden realization hit her.  
  
This man, she thought to herself in wonder. He's my strength now. He's my crutch when I'm weak; he'll reach out and grab me when I slip. He won't let me fall. He loves me.  
  
"We still have each other," Shipwreck said gently as he stroked her face. "We can make it. I know we can do this, together."  
  
Cover Girl felt the emotions swirling in her heart; it was a flood she could no longer hold back. Her face shook and trembled, and she struggled to keep her eyes focused on his.  
  
"I love you," Cover Girl said, breaking down at last. "You're everything to me now. You're all I have. I was never able to tell you before. Maybe I was afraid. But I promise, I won't be afraid again. I'm not afraid to face the world, not when you're here with me. That's all I need to know."  
  
Their eyes closed as Shipwreck leaned in to kiss her. The feel of her soft, warm lips against his own sent a quiver of joy through his heart. Was it wrong to feel so happy, so complete, amidst all this turmoil and suffering? Was it wrong for a man, for one shining moment, to find an island of peace in this storm? The woman he had dreamed of and longed for, for so many years, was now kissing him with such softness, gentleness, and passion. Their lips pressed harder against one another, and they wrapped their arms around one another, as if making up in this one moment all the time they had spent apart. All the time lost. So much lost time between us, Shipwreck thought to himself. She broke my heart once. Imagine what could have been had things gone differently. But I won't dwell on what was lost. I will think only of what I've found, at last.  
  
The two friends seemed to have lost track of time while they had kissed out there in the deserted alleyway, next to a trash can and beneath a broken street lamp. Floating plastic bags and tumbling empty aluminum cans seemed to mark the passage of time in this timeless moment. But none of that mattered to Shipwreck and Cover Girl as they stood up. Shipwreck stood up first and helped Cover Girl to her feet.  
  
"Well, Cover Girl, shall we?"  
  
"Courtney."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Call me Courtney, Hector," Cover Girl tenderly said, enjoying the sound of her loved one's true name.  
  
They had never addressed one another by their real names before.  
  
"Courtney," Shipwreck said, as he held Cover Girl's hand gently and led her down the street to a future they would face, unafraid, together.  
  
"Shall we?"  
  
Cover Girl smiled as the two of them walked down their new path.  
  
Together. 


	25. Brother and Sister

A short hedge of bushes surrounding the fortress in a line was making all the difference between life and death for Low-Light.  
  
Low-Light grunted in agony as he struggled to crawl along the narrow grassy area, with the fortress wall on one side and the bushes on the other. He'd been shot in the left shoulder and in left thigh, and he was leaving a trail of blood along the grass. After crawling a few feet, with bullets whizzing in the air above him, Low-Light peered back and noticed how much he was bleeding. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a bandage and wrapped it around his left thigh to stop the bleeding. His normally calm, methodical movements were now nervous and jerky, as he wondered how much longer he had left. After finishing the dressing, Low-Light yanked both ends in a knot, eliciting another cry of pain from his exhausted body.  
  
The events of the last few minutes repeated themselves in his mind in the span of a few heartbeats. There had been explosions and an enormous firefight. He and Beach Head had failed in their mission to kill Cobra Commander. They had killed a lot of other people, but the leadership of Cobra remained intact, and the number of surviving Joes was dwindling inexorably. Now Beach Head was gone. Soon, he thought, I might be next. For now, all he could think of was the words, "Keep moving." He could think of nothing but getting away from the spot where, moments before, he had fallen after being shot while climbing down.  
  
Another bullet flew over his position, a few feet above him. Gathering his strength, Low-Light grabbed his rifle and struggled to his knees.  
  
There were around ten Vipers shooting at him, approaching him from the lawn and the street, just beyond. The air was filled with chaos, and many Cobras were disoriented, running around, trying to deal with the tremendous damage and fires caused by the explosions. Apparently, a few Vipers had taken notice of him amidst the chaos, and they were angling to snuff him out.  
  
Low-Light sighted the nearest Viper and immediately took him out with one shot. He swung his rifle around to the left and blew away a second Viper. Immediately after taking the shot, Low-Light dropped back onto the ground, partly to avoid the hail of return fire, and partly out of exhaustion.  
  
With horror, Low-Light watched a grenade arc over the bushes and land at his feet. Low-Light summoned all his strength to get to his knees and crawl away from the grenade as fast as he could, and when he felt the grenade was almost going to go off, he lunged and threw his body forward.  
  
He felt the shock of the explosion and a few bits of hot shrapnel bite into the backs of his legs.  
  
Low-Light felt himself growing woozy. Surely, he would not last much longer. His energy was gone, and if any more grenades came his way, he was history. He thought back to the day it had all gone wrong. Cobra had won a tremendous victory not far from here. He had barely escaped with his life that night by diving into the sewers. So much had happened since that night, it was hard to believe he had made it this far. Perhaps this was the end of the line.  
  
"What's the matter, boy? You afraid of the dark? You afraid of death?"  
  
Why am I hearing his voice now, of all times?  
  
It was his father's voice, of course. He and his father were standing over a deer that he had shot and mortally wounded. His father was taunting him, telling him that he was afraid to finish what he'd started.  
  
That was so long ago.  
  
"You afraid of killing?"  
  
He had stood over that little deer with his rifle and even though he was afraid, he did it anyway. He'd pulled the trigger and blown its brains out. That day, he became a killer.  
  
He knew it would come to this. He too would fall to the endless cycle of violence and death. There would always be men like him in the world, men who lived by the creed of kill or be killed. He was a part of this unbreakable chain. It was his turn, he knew.  
  
Let it come, Low-Light thought to himself. I'm not afraid to die. I ain't afraid of nothing.  
  
He dimly perceived renewed shouting and gunfire, and the sound of squealing tires. He could not have known that at moment, Mainframe and Zarana had come charging in, in a Ford sedan and a blaze of gunfire. The attacking Vipers were caught completely by surprise.  
  
There was a brief, uneasy silence after the last shot was fired. With Zarana remaining behind the wheel of the getaway vehicle, Mainframe raced across the lawn, shouting Low-Light's name. Mainframe leapt over the bushes in one hurdle, and within minutes, he was at Low-Light's side, trying to get him to his feet.  
  
"Holy cow," Mainframe said as he noted Low-Light's injuries.  
  
Low-Light grinned weakly.  
  
"Looks like I'm not quite dead yet," he said.  
  
"You're not going to die," Mainframe said as he began dragging him to a nearby gap in the bushes, where they would be able to reach the idling car, waiting on the lawn just outside of the ring of bushes.  
  
"What's happened," Low-Light said in a dazed voice as he felt himself being dragged on his back by his shirt collar.  
  
"It's all gone to shit," Mainframe said, "we've lost contact with everyone. It's every man for themselves now. All we can do now is get the hell out and meet back at the rendezvous point."  
  
Of course. The rendezvous point. They both remembered the last time the surviving Joes had gathered together, just after the great Battle of Washington, DC. How many Joes would be there this time? It would be a miracle if anyone was even still alive after this catastrophe.  
  
Zarana was waiting just beyond the bushes, firing a rifle through the driver's window at oncoming Cobras, providing cover fire for their getaway.  
  
"Move it, Low-Light, on your feet soldier!"  
  
Mainframe jerked Low-Light to his feet and together, they tumbled into the open back passenger door.  
  
"Go, go, go!"  
  
Mainframe hardly needed to tell Zarana to take off. She floored the gas pedal immediately, and the car took off, zigzagging wildly as Zarana swerved to avoid various piles of debris and dead bodies.  
  
After a few bumps, they managed to make it back to the street, and Mainframe untangled himself from Low-Light. He sat up in the back seat and turned around. Someone was pursuing them at high speeds.  
  
With a jolt of horror, Mainframe recognized their pursuer. It was the Dreadnok Thunder Machine. Thrasher was at the wheel, and Zartan was sitting in the passenger seat, yelling and gesticulating wildly to Thrasher, no doubt egging him on with the chase. Zartan pointed a submachine gun at them through the passenger's window and began spraying bullets at the fleeing vehicle.  
  
"Zarana, its'-"  
  
"I know," Zarana said. Her face was grim, and her eyes flashed back and forth from the rearview mirror. The frenzied car chase continued for several blocks, moving farther and farther away from the fortress.  
  
The rear window shattered from the impact of Zartan's bullets, and both Mainframe and Zarana ducked their heads in reflex. Mainframe pulled out his handgun and looked to Low-Light. The Joe sniper was propped up in the back seat next to him, his head lolling back and forth. He appeared to have lost consciousness. Mainframe turned his attention back to the pursuing Thunder Machine and squeezed off a few rounds at the occupants.  
  
Mainframe saw Thrasher's head jerk back, and he quickly perceived that he had managed to nail him. He barely had time to register a feeling of grim satisfaction. Zarana screamed as she swerved rapidly to avoid a collision with a bus in the middle of a four way intersection. The tires screeched madly as the vehicle swung around in a 90 degree angle and crashed into an oncoming car with a loud scream of tortured metal and broken glass. Another crash followed just seconds later as the Thunder Machine hurtled out of control into both vehicles.  
  
* * *  
  
"Blaine?"  
  
Zarana weakly called out the name of her beloved as she regained consciousness. She had no idea how long she'd been out, but it couldn't have been long.  
  
Must have blacked out, she thought. She winced and put a hand to her chest, where the driver's wheel had knocked the wind out of her. She didn't think anything was broken, but her chest now throbbed with pain. The right side of the car had smashed against a second vehicle. There was blood all over the driver's window of the second vehicle; evidently, whoever was driving that car had not survived. The Thunder Machine, wedged in an awkward angle between both vehicles, was a spectacular wreck as well. Slowly, Zarana opened the door on her side and tumbled out of the vehicle.  
  
She took a quick look around. There was a crowd of onlookers, but no one was coming to help. There were no other Cobras in sight, either.  
  
Zarana, feeling a terrible queasiness in her stomach, found the back passenger door on the left side and yanked it open.  
  
"Blaine?"  
  
Mainframe was unconscious. He did not appear to be bleeding from anywhere. Zarana could see the rise and fall of his chest as he lay sprawled across the back seat. Lying on top of him was the still, slumped-over body of Low- Light. Zarana could tell right away that Low-Light was dead. She knew even without reaching forward to try to push him off of Mainframe. His eyes were closed, and his face was serene.  
  
"Zarana, is that you?"  
  
Mainframe's voice was slurred and heavy. He appeared to be not quite with it at the moment. Zarana reached forward and grabbed him by the legs.  
  
"Come on, Blaine, snap out of it, we've got to get out of here."  
  
Zarana heard a footstep directly behind her and froze. She knew even without turning around. Her hand went to her pistol immediately.  
  
"It's been a long time, dear sister," Zartan said coldly.  
  
Slowly, Zarana turned to face her brother. The last time they had met, it had been on the Brooklyn Bridge, and she had kicked him in the stomach, allowing her and Mainframe to make their escape. She had been dreading this meeting ever since, wondering at how angry Zartan must be for her defection.  
  
Now, the two siblings faced each other across the distance of a few feet, staggering to keep their balance like a pair of drunkards. Zartan's right eye was swollen shut, and his entire right face was bruised and bloodied. Nevertheless, he still managed to hold his pistol steady, aimed at Zarana's body. Zarana, for her part, had her gun trained directly at Zartan's head.  
  
"Is this how it's going to end?" Zarana asked. "With us killing each other?"  
  
"You caused this," Zartan said. "We'd won, and you had to go and screw it all up."  
  
"I'm sorry," Zarana said. "I never meant to fall in love."  
  
"You had a thing for him, all these years."  
  
"I love him."  
  
"What do you expect me to do, let you go?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And why would I do that?"  
  
"You're still my brother, Zartan. You're my brother and I love you. And I'm the only sister you have."  
  
"You're no sister of mine," Zartan said bitterly.  
  
Brother and sister continued staring at each other, down the barrels of each other's pistols.  
  
"I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do," Zarana said after the long silence. "I'm going to put my gun away, and I'm going to take Mainframe, and we're going to walk away from here."  
  
They continued staring at each other. Zarana's expression softened, and perhaps her brother could tell from the look on her face, just how much she loved Mainframe, how she would have done anything for him, even if it meant doing the unthinkable and switching sides. Perhaps something in him at that moment stayed his hand, for reasons even he himself could not understand. He had never been in love. He could not know how Zarana was feeling. But something in him touched him, for one brief moment, and he felt compelled to listen to her.  
  
"Perhaps we'll meet again," Zarana said. "And we'll be enemies again."  
  
"When that happens, if I have to kill you, I will not hesitate," Zartan said. "Not for a second."  
  
"And I will not hesitate, either," Zarana said. "Not for a second."  
  
"If that's how it's going to be, so be it," Zartan said, "sister."  
  
Zarana put her gun away and reached into the car for Mainframe. Mainframe, fully conscious, moaned and put a hand to his head as Zarana helped him out of the car and to his feet. Zarana, supporting Mainframe with one of his arms around her shoulders, looked up to Zartan one last time. He was still pointing his pistol at them.  
  
"Goodbye, brother," Zarana said finally, as she turned away.  
  
As Zarana and Mainframe limped away from the crash site, to freedom, she heard Zartan fire his gun three times into the air. For a moment, she felt a brief shudder, thinking that he had decided to shoot her, after all. But when she realized that she and Mainframe were still walking, she felt an upwelling of sadness. This was her brother. They had grown up and played together, fought with each other, ridden the mean streets together. She had an inescapable feeling that they would never meet again, and the thought brought a strange ache to her heart. 


	26. For the Love of a Baroness

The two FANG choppers descended slowly over the barren wasteland as the mid- day sun moved behind the thick dark clouds, throwing the land into shadow. One chopper, piloted by Clutch, carried Steeler, Flint, and Lady Jaye on the landing bars, while the other chopper was piloted by Grunt. They had flown about twenty miles northwest of the Cobra Ziggurat, and they had not been chased or attacked since their departure. Now, without a soul in sight and no witnesses except a disorganized crowd of abandoned cars and military vehicles, the brave Joes set down in the land known as the Proving Grounds. Many a Cobra weapon had been tested out here, everything from ballistic missiles to deadly germ-carrying dragonflies. As a result, the Proving Grounds, an area of roughly ten square miles in what was once suburban Maryland, was completely devoid of inhabitation.  
  
It was, Flint thought, the best place to ditch their FANG choppers for a less conspicuous means of transportation.  
  
As his chopper set down on the dirt, Steeler's remained lost in thought. He was still thinking of the way, moments before, he had said goodbye to the Baroness. He had stared longingly into her eyes and realized that she loved him yet lacked the courage to go with him. They had gone through so much together, ever since that day long ago when he had passionately kissed her in a dark hallway and he had had the burning desire to have her body and soul. He saw her, torn and tormented; happiness had been just beyond his reach.  
  
Now, as the Joes fanned out in search of escape vehicles, Steeler reminded himself that he needed more than ever to stay in the here and now. Somehow, the Joes needed to make their way back to New York City, where they would see who had made it out and figure out a way to keep fighting Cobra.  
  
In silence, the five Joes marched a few miles northeastward through the Proving Grounds. They were nearing the outer periphery of the Cobra testing zone, and they were beginning to see abandoned cars and military vehicles that actually appeared usable. Flint suggested at this point that they take two cars. He and Lady Jaye would take one car, and Clutch, Steeler, and Grunt would take the other.  
  
"Just remember," Flint reminded the others as he worked on hot-wiring a gray Chevrolet, "if we get separated, you know where the rendezvous point is. We'll meet back in that apartment in New York's Chinatown."  
  
Everyone voiced their affirmation, except for Grunt, who was staring toward the eastern sky with his right hand over his eyes to shield against the sun.  
  
"Wait a minute, guys," he said, "what's that?"  
  
The dark spot on the horizon gradually grew closer, until it became clear to everyone that it was a single Cobra Rattler.  
  
The Rattler flew straight over them.  
  
* * *  
  
"Commander," a voice came in through the radio speakers in the control tower, "this is Wild Weasel. I have visual confirmation."  
  
With Tele-Vipers manning the consoles in the large control room, Cobra Commander stood at the center of the room with Storm Shadow at his side, monitoring the situation. Standing nearby was Destro, his chest bandaged from the gunshot wound he had received shortly before the Joes had escaped. At Destro's side was the Baroness and Layla, who nervously observed the proceedings.  
  
"It is just as you said, Destro," Cobra Commander hissed as he paced the room. On one large monitor was a satellite image of the mid-Atlantic coast, and a small blinking red light on the northeastern edge of the Proving Grounds indicated the position of Steeler and the Joes.  
  
Beneath his steel mask, Destro smiled maliciously. He had placed a tiny homing beacon under Steeler's shirt collar earlier that very morning. He had done it out of suspicion against this man who was so bold to stand up to him and steel his woman from under his own nose. Now his suspicion had paid off, and he would use the homing beacon to find Steeler, his rival, and destroy him for good.  
  
"Attack the target," Cobra Commander instructed Wild Weasel over the radio.  
  
* * *  
  
The Rattler, after roaring straight overhead, swung into a 180 degree turn to make a second pass, this time at a decreasing altitude.  
  
"Everyone take cover now!" Flint cried as he looked up at the approaching Rattler. With that, all five Joes scrambled out of their cars and dove for cover among the metallic wrecks strewn across what had once been a residential street.  
  
The Rattler opened fire with its nose cannon, strafing the entire street and sending up large clouds of dust and smoke.  
  
When the Rattler had passed over them, Flint pulled Lady Jaye back into his car and finished hot-wiring the engine. With a turn of his wrist, the car's engine roared to life. Ten yards away, on the other side of the street, Clutch had managed to do the same thing. Flint yelled over at Clutch to get his attention.  
  
"Let's split up. We'll go east, you head north! Meet us at the rendezvous!"  
  
"We'll be there, Flint!" Clutch yelled back as he revved the engine and stepped on the gas. The car sped away. Moments later, as the Rattler over them made another full turn for a second strafing run, Flint and Lady Jaye sped off in the opposite direction down the beaten road. The wrecks of destroyed homes and abandoned vehicles passed by them in a blur as they desperately sought to escape from Wild Weasel.  
  
* * *  
  
"Two cars, heading in different directions, one bearing east and the other north," Wild Weasel reported to Cobra Commander.  
  
"Which one should I take?" he asked, after a pause.  
  
"The one bearing east," Destro said loudly.  
  
Cobra Commander and the Baroness both turned to look at him in surprise at Destro's sudden input after being silent for the last twenty minutes. Destro strode forward to the large telescreen that showed Steeler's tracking beacon. The beacon appeared to be headed northward.  
  
"Acknowledged," Wild Weasel said. "I see the car, I'm going for a missile lock now."  
  
Destro, grunting in pain from his gunshot wound, took over one of the computer consoles from the Tele-Viper who was manning the position. After a series of keystrokes, he magnified the image, using the tracking beacon as a center. The beacon went from a blinking red light on a map of the Mid- Atlantic coast to an enhanced image of a car speeding along a road, bearing north. The Cobras could almost make out the Joes sitting in the front seat, so sophisticated was their satellite imaging hardware.  
  
"Any particular reason you wish to pursue this one personally?" Cobra Commander asked Destro in an amused voice.  
  
"Naturally, Cobra Commander," Destro said. "This is Steeler, the G.I. JOE spy who tried to kill me. It's only right that I pay him back personally."  
  
"No, wait!" the Baroness blurted out in alarm.  
  
Destro slowly turned to face the Baroness, standing beside him. Her face was pale and she was visibly trembling.  
  
"Yes, Baroness, do you have something you wish to add here?" Destro said in a low, sarcastic voice.  
  
He knew that the Baroness did not want to lose her Joe lover. He would have felt sympathy for her if she hadn't betrayed him in the first place by falling in love with this mere Joe.  
  
This will break her heart, Destro considered. If that's the case, then fine. I'll break her heart, with pleasure. I could expose her right now for the traitor that she is, right in front of Cobra Commander. I could have her gutted.  
  
Destro reminded himself, with one look at the Baroness, of the reason why he had not exposed her. One look at her shapely figure and the delicious thought that she would become his bedroom slave was enough of a reminder for him.  
  
"My dear Baroness," Cobra Commander said, "are you feeling quite alright? You're not looking well."  
  
The Baroness said nothing. She looked to Cobra Commander and then to Destro, and realized that there was nothing she could do. If she acted now to stop Destro from killing Steeler, she would be killed too, of that there was no doubt. Layla, shifting uneasily on her feet next to the Baroness, kept a close eye on her mistress, afraid that she would do something rash like pull a gun on Destro right there in the control room. Part of the Baroness wanted to scream in agony and helplessness. She wanted to leave the room and not be forced to witness her lover's death and be left with the feeling that she had somehow played a part in it. Another part of her felt compelled to stay and see this through to the very end. The Baroness watched as Destro zoomed in from the satellite camera onto Steeler's car, homing in on the tracking signal that Steeler still knew nothing about. Destro methodically punched in a series of keystroke commands and brought up the weapons select screen and the target coordinate grid.  
  
The target was locked. The satellite would fire a high-powered laser beam from earth's orbit, the very same laser weapon that Destro had once used in a demonstration on Mount Rushmore. The prompts appeared on the center of the screen in large print, each word a stabbing knife in the heart of the Baroness:  
  
TARGET LOCKED  
  
FIRE? Y/N  
  
Y  
  
At that moment the Baroness shut her eyes, unable to witness the moment of doom for Steeler. Meanwhile, a powerful ray of energy came raining down directly on Steeler's position. At that moment, the car was in motion along the northern reaches of the Proving Grounds, just a few miles off the nearest interstate highway. The car was skirting along the edge of a large crater, which had long ago been created in one of Cobra's many bombing tests.  
  
When the Baroness opened her eyes, the car was smoking, is engine on fire, and it was teetering over the edge of the crater. She could not see Steeler or the other occupants of the vehicle, but she could very well imaging the shock and terror they were facing at that moment as their car tumbled over the edge of the ravine, flipping over several times and coming to rest at the bottom of the pit. Finally, the car was motionless, but it was in flames and a pillar of smoke emanated from within. The Baroness spotted a trace of movement from the front passenger's side as a man struggled to drag himself out of the car. The movement corresponded to the same movements of the flashing tracking beacon, and with a flush of hope, she realized that Steeler was still alive.  
  
But Destro was leaving nothing to chance. Without a moment's hesitation, he began keying in the commands to fire again.  
  
* * *  
  
Steeler screamed in agony as he pulled himself out of the broken window of the front passenger's side of the vehicle. The smoke choked him; the fire burned and blistered his skin. He felt that at any moment, the fire would reach the car's engine and cause the whole thing to explode, just like it always happened in the movies.  
  
Grunt was sprawled across the back seat, dead. He had apparently smashed his head against the back window during the fall. Clutch was unconscious, with a large bloody cut on his right temple.  
  
As Steeler wiggled himself free from the car and attempted to drag Clutch's body out the window with him, he realized that both of his legs were broken. He had suffered bilateral femoral fractures.  
  
It had all happened so suddenly. One moment, it seemed they were in the clear. The Rattler was pursuing Flint and Lady Jaye instead of them. With a little luck, they would have made it to the freeway, and then there would have been no stopping them. But somehow, a ray of fire had come shooting down from the sky, right at them, almost as if Cobra had known that he would be there at that exact moment. The deadly accuracy of the attack was unmistakable. It had to be Destro. He recalled with a shudder, the way Destro's Weather Dominator had played a vital role in the Battle for Washington, DC, shooting down both Ace and Scarlett with bolts of lightning. Although there had been no lightning this time, it was without a doubt one of Destro's weapons. He must have had a high powered laser satellite somewhere in earth's orbit. How could Destro have known where the Joes were, though? The question tugged at Steeler's brain as he desperately searched for the answer.  
  
No one had followed them out of the Cobra fortress. They had flown all the way out to the Proving Grounds unmolested. It was only after they had landed that a Rattler had flown over them. How could Destro have known where they were?  
  
HOW?  
  
With sudden horror, Steeler remembered an odd incident earlier that morning. He had had a brief run-in with Destro inside the Cobra tower, as he had been planting his remote detonator explosives. The whole incident flashed through Steeler's mind in an instant of horrifying clarity. Destro had asked him why he wasn't with the Baroness, making love to her. Steeler recalled making some sarcastic remark. He had taunted Destro. But before all that had happened, yes, Destro had surprised him in the hallway, hadn't he? He had put his hand on Steeler's shoulder, near his collar, causing Steeler to jump out of his skin in surprise.  
  
Why had he done that?  
  
And for a moment, Steeler's right hand left Clutch's arm and went to his collar. Had Destro put something on him, some kind of a bug?  
  
It didn't take long for Steeler's hand to locate the tracking device. It was something he would never have found if he hadn't been actively looking for it. It was a small, shiny, metallic thing, the size of a dime, with a flashing red light in the center.  
  
A tracking device.  
  
I should have known.  
  
Steeler held the object in his fist as he looked up hopelessly at the sky above. Out there, Destro was watching him through that satellite. He crushed the device in his hand, even as he knew that it would not do him any good. Destro knew where he was.  
  
I'll be watching you.  
  
Yes, he'd said those very words to him that morning.  
  
Why didn't I pick up on it, Steeler thought, until it was too late?  
  
He let go of Clutch, even as Clutch was halfway through the window of the car. There was no running now. With the car destroyed, Clutch unconscious, and both of Steeler's legs broken, there was no escape from this barren, rocky, desolate place.  
  
A tear came to his eye as he looked up at the sky. He knew he was as good as dead. Yet the thought of dying did not pain him so much as the thought that he would never see the Baroness again. He would never again lie in her arms, listening to the sweet nothings she whispered in his ear. He would never again feel the thrill of having her body enveloped in his own or feel the wonder at the miracle that had brought them together. He would never again look into her gentle eyes and see just how deeply she had grown to love him.  
  
"Goodbye, Anastasia," Steeler whispered through his tears as sky flashed again, one last time.  
  
* * *  
  
Flint and Lady Jaye saw it the first time. The bright, searing line rent the sky for a split second and was gone. They had never seen anything like it before, but they both assumed that it was one of Destro's weapons. They were, after all, in the proving grounds. The laser had hit several miles to the northwest, where Steeler and the others were. Could it be, Flint wondered. Could they have been hit?  
  
They had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment, however. At the moment, they were being pursued by Wild Weasel in the Rattler, who was closing in fast and gearing for an attack.  
  
"Come on, Dash, he's almost got us! Can't you make this thing go any faster?"  
  
"This is fast as it gets," Flint said grimly as he watched the Rattler approach through his side mirror.  
  
It was no use. There was no way in hell a car going 100 mph would outrun a fighter plane. The Rattler launched a pair of missiles at them.  
  
Flint saw it, swerved, and slammed down the brakes, bringing the car into a skid down the empty road. Lady Jaye shrieked in alarm as she felt herself being pushed against her side of the car.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"OUT OF THE CAR, NOW!!!" Flint ordered.  
  
Lady Jaye didn't question it. She and Flint opened their car doors and dove together off the side of the road as the missiles hit, sending up the car in an enormous explosion. The roar of the explosion was followed by the roar of the Rattler's engines as it soared low over the wreck. For a long time, Flint and Lady Jaye lay still on the side of the road, face down, covering their heads with their hands, not daring to move.  
  
When they both looked up and picked themselves off the ground, they hastily ran away from the fire and watched the departing Rattler.  
  
"He won't be back," Flint said. "But we're going to have to walk back to civilization from this point."  
  
Lady Jaye said nothing, only nodding mutely. She could hardly believe that they had managed to escape with their lives.  
  
And then, out of the corner of their eyes, they saw it for the second time. A blinding ray of light shooting down from the sky, followed by the eerie sound of a distant explosion. As Flint and Lady Jaye stood on the side of the beaten road and watched, with the fire blazing twenty yards behind them, they took each other's hand.  
  
"Could it be, they're gone?" Flint said numbly. The thought that he had just lost three of his friends began to eat away at him.  
  
"Come on, Dash," Lady Jaye urged. "Let's go."  
  
She tugged at his hand, and they head eastward, away from Steeler, Clutch, and Grunt. They wondered if they had seen the last of them.  
  
How many more, Flint asked himself, again and again. How many more have to die?  
  
Flint reflected for a moment on their situation. There were few Joes left. He had seen the explosion in the ramparts, and he knew he had to prepare himself for the possibility that Beach Head and Low-Light had been lost. Now he might have lost Steeler, Clutch, and Grunt. As for Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Cover Girl, Clutch, Mainframe, and Zarana-well, he as yet had no idea what had happened. At this moment, legions of Cobra were streaming across the Atlantic, ready and eager to take Europe and the rest of the world by storm. The defeat of G.I. JOE and the fall of the United States had only been the beginning. Without G.I. JOE, Flint knew, the rest of the world hardly stood a chance.  
  
* * *  
  
The Baroness stood mutely in the courtyard of the Cobra Ziggurat, watching the small fires around the area that refused to die. One week after the G.I. JOE attack, the central Cobra fortress remained in a state of disarray and ruin. Legions of Cobra troopers labored night and day to restore the once mighty fortress to its former state of fearsome splendor. The Baroness stood alone along the west wall of the courtyard, wishing that she could disappear or become invisible. The memory of last night burned in her memory.  
  
After being treated for his gunshot wound, Destro had returned and taken her for his own, even as she grieved for Steeler. There was no question now that he was gone forever. Destro knew her feelings for Steeler, but he did not care. Even now, the Baroness could feel his hungry hands stripping off her black uniform and roughly groping her breasts. She could see his head, without his mask, going down on her, and she felt his lips and his tongue. Her body registered the sensation as pleasure, but her heart was frozen.  
  
"I'll make you forget about him, Anastasia," Destro said as he entered her hard and deep, bringing an involuntary shudder from the Baroness. With every rhythmic thrust, the fire burned in her loins, and the Baroness feigned passion, digging her fingernails into his naked back and thrusting her hips upward against him, screaming for more.  
  
"Oh, God!" she cried. "Yes, yes, YES!"  
  
She felt so dirty. She felt like she had betrayed Steeler.  
  
I let him go, she thought to herself. I let him go because I was afraid to lay down my life for him. I was afraid to risk it all for happiness. Now he's gone, and I have my life, but it means nothing without him. I'm lost without you, Steeler. Now I belong to Destro. He has the power over my life. With one word, he could have me dead, yet he chooses to let me live. He chooses to let me live because he desires me sexually and for no other reason. He stopped loving me from his heart a long time ago.  
  
As Destro reached orgasm and came inside of her, he let loose a primal howl of ecstasy and collapsed on her. Destro's lips were on her neck, his chest pressed against her breasts, and his cock buried within her. They were as physically close as a man and a woman could get, but the Baroness still felt the ache in her heart that would not leave her. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she cried silently, even as Destro drank in the body that had once been reserved for Steeler alone.  
  
The Baroness shook her head as she tried to shake herself of the pleasurable yet painful memory of the previous night. She noticed another woman standing at her side. It was Layla.  
  
"There was nothing you could have done," Layla said.  
  
It was the first time she and the Baroness had spoken of what had happened during the chaotic G.I. JOE attack days before.  
  
"That's not true, Layla. There is always something I could have done."  
  
"But then you would be dead too."  
  
"Maybe it would have been better that way."  
  
The two Cobra women, dressed in full uniform, appeared to any outside observer to be merely overseeing the restoration of the fortress. No one would have suspected they were simply two women having a quiet talk of matters of the heart.  
  
"I don't believe that. How can you say that? Look around you. Everything we worked so hard for over the years has come true. We've won. The world belongs to us. We could have anything we want, anything at all. How could it be impossible for you to find happiness?"  
  
"I thought that way once," the Baroness said. "I put my hope in the things of this world to make me happy. Then Steeler showed me what could happen when I let him into my heart. I loved him so much. But nothing can ever bring my Steeler back to me. He's gone, Layla. I don't know if I can ever love another man again."  
  
"I was afraid something like this would happen," Layla said sadly. "What are you going to do?"  
  
"One day, soon," the Baroness said with growing determination, "I'm going to leave this place. I'm going to leave Cobra. I can't be loved in a place like this. Here, I'm the Baroness. The men fear and respect me, but they don't love me. Maybe I need to lose my title, my power, my status. Maybe I should become anonymous again. Maybe I should become a woman again."  
  
"A woman," Layla mused softly. "I can't say I understand how you feel, Mistress. I've never even loved a man before."  
  
Their eyes met. The Baroness reached down and squeezed her hand.  
  
"Then come with me," she said. "We'll leave together."  
  
"When?"  
  
"When the time is right, we'll leave. You're the only friend I have left, Layla."  
  
"Wherever you go, I'll follow you," Layla said after a long pause. "If you walk away, I will follow. But where will we go? There is no place that's safe from Cobra."  
  
"No matter what you do, the world will never be the way you want it," the Baroness said. "Maybe this is what happiness is. Everyone needs to find an island that they can call her own, away from the craziness of this world. You know, the Joes managed to lay low for all this time. Steeler was here the whole time and no one knew. We had that island of peace and love in the middle of all this, but we lost it."  
  
"But you'll find it again," Layla said earnestly. "I know you will." 


	27. Dusty's Return

Dusty glared closely at the printed digital captured photograph in his hands. It was a routine surveillance picture taken at Manhattan's Canal Street subway station, and it depicted an ordinary looking crowd of citizens passing through the boarding platform. One face stood out in the crowd, and it had been enough for Cobra's automated photo analyzing computer programs to detect. A tall, lean man with short dark hair and a linear scar on his right temple.  
  
He, Dusty, had been the cause of that scar, of course. Dusty had shot him in the head, shifting his aim to the side in order to spare his life.  
  
In the photo, Flint was next to an equally distinctive and unmistakable woman, an attractive woman wearing a cap over her short hair.  
  
"Well, Dusty, it seems that it's now your turn to shine."  
  
Dusty looked up at the telescreen and beheld Cobra Commander, watching him in bemused silence. He said nothing. It had been two weeks since the violent battle down at the main Cobra fortress down at Washington, DC. An attempt by the Joes to assassinate Cobra Commander and Destro had resulted instead in the deaths of a large number of surviving Joes, including Beach Head, Low Light, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Grunt, Clutch, and Steeler. Dusty had been in New York at the time, taking care of business there. Now the Joes were back in his neighborhood, it was his responsibility to destroy them.  
  
"When were the Joes detected?"  
  
"They were spotted just five minutes ago."  
  
"You know what must be done. I want those Joes brought in alive. We must find out how many of them are left to stand against us."  
  
"Yes, Commander."  
  
"I knew I could count on you, dear Dusty," Cobra Commander said in that repulsive, serpentine voice of his. Dusty, for a moment, felt like vomiting in disgust.  
  
Cobra Commander ended the transmission. Dusty turned to the other Tele- Vipers sitting in the control room of Cobra's lower Manhattan fortress.  
  
"Locate the Joes now. I want to find where they're headed."  
  
"Aye, sir," one Tele-Viper said as he rapidly keyed in the commands that told the image processing programs to run through the thousands of images being captured in real time by the surveillance cameras posted on literally every major street corner.  
  
The search took just one minute.  
  
"Where are they?" Dusty asked, fighting the nagging feeling that he did not really want to know the answer.  
  
"An apartment in Chinatown at the corner of Grand and Mulberry."  
  
* * *  
  
Dusty's mother lay quietly in bed in a nice suburban home in upstate New York, a little town called Hastings. She had recovered from her asthma exacerbation, but now she lived a quiet life, confined to her home. Cobra had set up the community to make it appear as normal to Dusty's mother as possible. Incoming information was censored or distorted in order to prevent her from suspecting the truth.  
  
In his mother's eyes, Dusty was a real American hero.  
  
"You wanted to see me, mom?"  
  
Dusty walked into her bedroom with Carol Demming at his side.  
  
"I just wanted to look on you again, one last time," his mother said kindly.  
  
Immediately, Dusty and Carol were at her bedside, with expressions of alarm on their faces.  
  
"What are you talking about? You sound like you expect to die."  
  
"Sometimes, Dusty, we can tell when it's our time. There's no explaining it. There's no stopping it. You just accept it. You accept your destiny. I've been feeling weaker lately, Dusty. I've just got this feeling that my heart has gone on long enough and it's ready to have a rest."  
  
"Mom," Dusty pleaded with her, clutching her hand.  
  
"Don't cry for me, son," Dusty's mother consoled him.  
  
On a TV at the other end of the bed, the news came flashing on, showing images of a burning Washington, DC.  
  
TERRORIST ATTACK FOILED, a caption read.  
  
"Breaking news from the capital," an off-screen voice reported as the aerial camera showed images of the ruined Cobra Ziggurat.  
  
"A group of terrorists carried out a bold attempt to assassinate our nation's leaders today. The damage and loss of life that has occurred today has been tremendous. In spite of this, however, our noble Cobra national guard forces have succeeded in protecting our courageous leader, Cobra Commander."  
  
The breaking news program cut to an image of the enormous fleet of transports flying across the Atlantic, ready to carry the war to Europe and beyond.  
  
"Already, the terrorists have been identified, along with the rogue states who sponsored their activities. Our armed forces at this moment is engaged in a heroic, historic endeavor."  
  
The news cut to a speech by Cobra Commander, addressing the nation.  
  
"We will make war against those countries who tried to subvert our great democratic country and destroy us. We will destroy their capacity to make war so that never again will we suffer from their evil plots. I implore you, fellow citizens, to pray for the success and safe return of our troops."  
  
For a moment, Dusty and Carol stared wide-eyed at the TV. This was the first they had heard of the attack on Washington, DC, by the Joes. Deep inside, Dusty could not help but feel a little bit of admiration for his former comrades, who had been so brave to carry out that desperate attack. It had nearly succeeded.  
  
And it might have, Dusty thought, if I had been there to help them.  
  
"Such a violent, dangerous world we live in," Dusty's mother said sadly. "But I'm glad that we have brave men like you, Dusty. I'm so proud of you."  
  
Dusty felt a surge of tremendous guilt and shame. He knew he was wholly undeserving of such praise. His mother believed that Cobra was the legitimate power in the U.S., and that Dusty was serving a noble purpose. She couldn't have been more wrong. If she knew what a weak coward he was, would she still love him? He wanted to fall on his knees and confess all to her. He wanted to scream at her that it was all a lie, all bullshit, and that he wasn't a hero at all. He wanted to beg for her forgiveness. He believed his mother would forgive him, because that's how deep her love was.  
  
Dusty began to cry bitter tears of shame.  
  
"Dusty," his mother said, "what's wrong?"  
  
For a moment, Dusty considered telling her the truth. Only for a moment.  
  
"I-I just love you so much," Dusty said, his voice shaking.  
  
With that, he embraced his mother for the last time.  
  
* * *  
  
That visit with his mother had happened just two weeks ago, at the same time as the Joe attack, and it felt like forever. She had died the next day, quietly in her sleep.  
  
Why am I thinking of her now, Dusty thought to himself as he led a squad of six Vipers into the apartment at the corner of Grand and Mulberry. They found the apartment room where the suspected Joes were hiding out. Dusty quietly made hand signals to the Vipers, indicating that he was going to kick down the door.  
  
This was the crucial moment. As Dusty prepared to kick down the door, he wondered if he would have the strength to take down his old friends. He hadn't had the strength last time. Last time, he had spared Flint's life. The thought crossed his mind now that the fate of G.I. JOE now rested entirely on his shoulders. It was entirely possible that these were the last remaining members of G.I. JOE. Without this last vestige of resistance, Cobra would surely succeed in its plans to rule the world.  
  
No, I can't think of that now, Dusty admonished himself. Think of the woman waiting for you back at home. Think of your unborn child. Think of your future.  
  
Are you ready to throw that away?  
  
Dusty kicked down the door, and he and his squad of Vipers came charging in, guns ready.  
  
* * *  
  
The group of Cobras found themselves face to face with an armed group of Joes. The Joes had not expected company, otherwise they would have been gone before Dusty could arrive. But the Joes' reflexes were as fast as ever. Within one second of the door being broken down, Flint, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Shipwreck, Mainframe, and Zarana had pulled out their pistols and were ready to fire.  
  
It was a standoff, across a distance of only a few feet. One false move and the bullets would fly. There was no telling who would be left alive. But Dusty saw the determination in the eyes of his old comrades, and he knew that, unlike himself, the Joes were prepared to give their lives. They were not about to come quietly.  
  
Dusty held up his pistol in one hand, and he raised his other hand, motioning his Vipers to hold their fire.  
  
"I don't understand," Lady Jaye said, "how did you find us so quickly?"  
  
"Oh, that's easy," Dusty said casually. "You and Flint had the temerity to walk through this part of town in broad daylight. Don't you know that there is no place that is safe from the eyes of Cobra?"  
  
Lady Jaye and Flint both grasped Dusty's meaning. The ubiquitous security cameras. Even in a crowd of people, the cameras had been able to pick them out. It was nothing short of mind boggling.  
  
"What happens now?" Flint said tensely.  
  
"I'm not here to kill you," Dusty said.  
  
"That's a relief," Flint said sarcastically.  
  
"My orders are to bring you in alive. Believe me, I don't want to hurt you."  
  
"Dusty, how could you do this to your friends?" Cover Girl cried out desperately.  
  
Dusty saw the earnest tears of heartbreak in her eyes, and his will faltered.  
  
I cannot fail-  
  
"Things changed," Dusty said in a terse, shaking voice.  
  
"Is that the truth?" Cover Girl asked.  
  
"Commander, what are we waiting for, let's frag these bitches now!" a Viper whispered impatiently.  
  
"Dusty, I know there's a good man inside you," Flint said calmly as the two sides continued to point their guns at each other across the small living room.  
  
"Shut up Flint, just drop your guns and no one has to die," Dusty said.  
  
"I don't understand why you left us, but I know you're not one of them," Flint continued. "You couldn't kill me then, and you won't do it now. I still believe in you."  
  
I still believe in you.  
  
It almost felt like his mother was talking to him, through Flint, trying to tell him to do the right thing in his heart. Dusty had never felt so torn in his life. He had to decide now. In a heartbeat, his mind was made up.  
  
The Vipers were standing behind him. Without turning around, Dusty fully contracted his pistol arm, pointing the barrel behind him, and he fired. The nearest Viper took a bullet right in the face, completely taken by surprise.  
  
In a matter of seconds, all hell broke loose. As the Vipers turned their attention to their own leader and brought their arms to bear, Dusty spun around, dropped to his back on the floor, and fired again. The Joes did not miss a beat, opening fire on the Vipers at the exact same moment. At the same time, the remaining Vipers were distracted between firing back at Dusty and the Joes. The room was a cacophony of flying bullets and bloodthirsty cries.  
  
When it was over, all of the Vipers lay dead on the floor, in close proximity to one another. Dusty struggled to get to his feet. His right arm dangled at his side, dripping blood. He had been shot in his biceps and shoulder, both on the right side. The left side of Dusty's face had been grazed by a bullet. Most of the Joes had escaped from the firefight unharmed, with the exception of Lady Jaye, who had taken a flesh wound in her left arm. She sat there, clutching her wound to keep pressure on it, and, along with the other Joes, stared in shock at Dusty.  
  
Dusty staggered to his feet and looked back at his erstwhile comrades.  
  
"I guess you were right about me," he said to Flint.  
  
Flint and Shipwreck walked across the room to Dusty.  
  
"Let us have a look at those wounds," Flint said.  
  
Dusty shook his head.  
  
"Don't," he said. "It will only make it harder."  
  
"What do you mean," Shipwreck said. "You're one of us. We need you now more than ever."  
  
"You all need to get out of this city as soon as you can," Dusty advised with solemn finality. "Don't ever come back here. Stay out of sight, stay hidden. Right now you don't stand a chance. You should know that, especially after what happened in DC."  
  
"Our duty is to keep fighting," Shipwreck said.  
  
"I know," Dusty smiled. "I wouldn't expect any less from a Joe. I want to fight with you, but I can't. I have unfinished business with Cobra."  
  
"But you just turned traitor on them," Shipwreck said.  
  
"They don't know that yet. I'll report to Cobra Commander when he comes personally. I'll tell him we were caught in an ambush, and I was the only one to escape alive. I'll tell him whatever lie he needs to hear."  
  
And then I'll kill him, Dusty thought.  
  
But before I do that, I have to tell Carol. She won't understand. Maybe someday she will.  
  
"Go now, go on, get out of here," Dusty said to them, stepping aside.  
  
There was nothing left to discuss. There was no time to even consider the gulf of time and horrific events that eternally separated Dusty and his friends. The Joes, one by one, walked out the door, stopping to nod to Dusty, or to shake his (good) hand for the last time.  
  
"Goodbye, soldier," Flint said as he walked out at last, leaving Dusty alone in a room with dead Vipers.  
  
Dusty stood alone with his thoughts for a long time. He knew the path that lay before him. It was a dangerous and treacherous path. Most likely he would not survive. If that was the price he would pay, so be it. He had caused too many deaths as it was. It would be his atonement for his sins. He only hoped that he would have the strength to carry it out. 


	28. The Breaking of the Fellowship

Deep in the bowels of a research laboratory, a woman lay imprisoned in a large transparent capsule, filled with water. The woman was naked, and her body's lower half was that of a fish. Gill slits lined the sides of her neck. She was a mermaid, and she'd been that way ever since she had volunteered for the genetic transformation experiments. Cruel tubes were inserted into every bodily orifice. Electrodes covered much of her body.  
  
Every time Shipwreck saw this, it was the same. He walked alone through the dark and empty lab, and he came up to Mara's vial.  
  
Just imagine, Cobra Commander's voice sounded in his head, imagine all the wonderful things our Cobra scientists are doing to her. Her fate is in your hands.  
  
Mara's eyes opened, and she and Shipwreck looked at one another across the plexiglass barrier. She smiled in recognition and put her hand to the glass. Shipwreck, as if entranced, did the same from the other side.  
  
Shipwreck, he heard her voice say.  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck jerked awake. He looked around and recognized his surroundings. He was back with his friends, in a hotel room in New Jersey. The accommodations were somewhat cramped, but the six friends needed to stay together for safety. Mainframe and Zarana shared one bed, while Lady Jaye and Flint shared the other. Cover Girl sat upright, dozing in the chair. Shipwreck had been sleeping in the chair next to her. Shipwreck leaned over toward Cover Girl across the small circular table that separated them, and he watched her breathe in and out. She was so beautiful in her sleep. She was beautiful all the time, in Shipwreck's opinion. Reaching out with his hand, Shipwreck touched her face, and caressed her. In her sleep, Cover Girl smiled.  
  
Cover Girl was dressed in a thin button down shirt and sweatpants. For a moment, Shipwreck allowed himself to admire her figure. He noted the soft features of her face, the full curves of her breasts, the shape of her hips, everything right down to her petite feet. At that moment, Shipwreck felt a strong desire to make love to her. He wanted to see her whole body. He wanted to touch every inch of her skin. They had shared a single powerful kiss on the day of their escape from the Washington fortress and had held each other tight. He knew now how much she loved him. Now he wanted to be closer to her, as close as two human beings in love can possibly become.  
  
It was the same dream that troubled him, even in the midst of his happiness with Cover Girl. Somewhere, Mara was suffering. There was something special about Mara; after all she had been his first true love. He had not forgotten Cobra Commander's words to him on the day he had been scheduled for execution.  
  
He could have been lying.  
  
But what if he was telling the truth? Could you live with yourself?  
  
* * *  
  
Alone in his quarters, Dusty occupied himself with composing a last letter to his wife. It had only been an hour since the confrontation with the Joes in Manhattan's Chinatown, and he knew that Cobra Commander was expecting him to make a personal report. Already, he had radioed the Commander to let him know of the failure of his mission and the lost of a squad of Vipers. Cobra Commander had been furious.  
  
"I will be anticipating your report with great interest," he said coldly.  
  
His right arm hurt like hell. Dusty had tightly wrapped some bandages around his right biceps and put a guaze dressing over his shoulder wound. His left face had been bandaged as well, with some of the blood already beginning to seep through.  
  
With great effort, Dusty signed his name to the letter and addressed it to Carol Demming.  
  
The door opened, and Dusty turned. With the backlighting from the hallway, Dusty could make out Carol's silhouette in the doorway of the darkened room.  
  
"Dusty, what's wrong?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing, darling," he said as he sealed the letter.  
  
Carol came into the room, and the door closed behind her.  
  
"You're hurt."  
  
"It's not serious."  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Carol, I have to go. I need to make a report to Cobra Commander. He's going to be very displeased with me."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"I failed. I had the Joes in my hands and I let them get away."  
  
"It sounds like it was something more than that," Carol said suspiciously.  
  
"Carol," Dusty said earnestly, "do you love me?"  
  
"Yes," she said without hesitation.  
  
"Do you love me for who I am as a person, regardless of my allegiance to Cobra?"  
  
"Why are you asking me this?"  
  
"I need you to trust me. I need you to believe in me."  
  
The two lovers embraced tenderly.  
  
"Then please try to understand me when I tell you that you need to get out of here as quickly as you can."  
  
"What, leave Cobra?"  
  
"For your own sake, and the safety of our child. Something terrible is going to happen, Carol, I'm sure of it. I'm going to do something that is likely going to get myself killed."  
  
Carol was stunned. In the span of a few minutes, the wonderful world she had created for herself was beginning to collapse. What madness was this? What could Dusty possibly be thinking of? She clutched her husband tightly and began to cry softly.  
  
"I want you to not be afraid. I want you to always know that I love you."  
  
"Why do you have to do this? Why can't we run away together?" Carol pleaded.  
  
Dusty had thought of that. The temptation was strong. But this was something he needed to do, of that he was certain. He had yielded to temptation before, and he had paid the price of his soul. No, I can't do that, Carol, he thought to himself. I need to atone for my mistakes. Please forgive me.  
  
With that, Dusty kissed her passionately and pressed the letter into her trembling hands. Without another word, he turned in anguish and left the room, heading for Cobra Commander.  
  
* * *  
  
So much water had passed under the bridge since that fateful day in Washington DC, the battle that had seen the death of Hawk and so many other Joes, the battle that now represented the turning point in the war against the terrorists. Now, the six last known Joes sat together in their small hotel room in New Jersey. They had all just awakened and eaten breakfast. The Joes looked uneasily at each other, each of them wondering the same question.  
  
What now?  
  
By now, the Joes had accepted the fact that they would probably never see Steeler, Clutch, or Grunt again. They knew for a fact that Beach Head, Low- Light, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett were all dead. Now the thirteen were down to six. Cobra's leadership had survived the attack on the Washington fortress. The war had now spread to Europe and would soon inflame the entire free world.  
  
"I hate to say it," Flint said, "but it looks like we've lost."  
  
He looked around at the others seated around the table: Mainframe, Zarana, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, and Shipwreck.  
  
"No," Cover Girl said, "don't talk like that. We can't give up."  
  
Flint shook his head.  
  
"We took our best shot at DC and we still lost. The plan was solid. We had all the pieces in place. If we try something like that again, we'll find that Cobra will be more than prepared for us. No, we'll have to lay low for now. We need to somehow rebuild and find others like us who are trying to resist Cobra, even if we have to go to the ends of the earth to find them. If-if you don't want to come with Lady Jaye and me, I'll understand."  
  
"I can't go with you," Shipwreck said suddenly.  
  
The other five Joes stared at the sailor in astonishment.  
  
"I have something else I need to do," Shipwreck said.  
  
He then proceeded to relate the story of his relationship with Mara, and the possibility that she could still be alive in Cobra's hands. He even threw in what he had learned from Mara's sister in San Francisco.  
  
"I know it sounds selfish, but she's my friend and she needs me," Shipwreck said with finality.  
  
"How are you going to find her?" Lady Jaye said.  
  
"I don't know that yet. I'll find a way," Shipwreck said.  
  
"You might not need to," Mainframe said as he pulled out a packet of CDs from his jacket pocket. They were the precious CDs that he had used to download top secret information straight off the Cobra main supercomputers. They were the CDs that had cost Dial Tone his life yet had brought Mainframe and Zarana together.  
  
"If there's anything about a mermaid experiment anywhere in Cobra, we'll find it," Mainframe said with finality as he went to pop the first CD into his laptop computer.  
  
An air of uneasiness and uncertainty pervaded the atmosphere in the ensuing hours. Flint, Lady Jaye, and Zarana sat at the table making idle conversation and sipping on grape soda, while Mainframe pored over the gigabytes of information he had gleaned from Cobra, most of which was still current. Shipwreck and Cover Girl stood by silently behind Mainframe, watching. Cover Girl tugged Shipwreck by the sleeve, motioning him to come aside and have a few words with her. The two friends walked just outside the door and stood alone in the empty hallway, speaking in low voices.  
  
"I'm sorry I never told you about this before, Courtney."  
  
"It's all right, I understand. But don't think you're going anywhere without me."  
  
Shipwreck looked embarrassed.  
  
"I can't ask you to help me in this. I won't have you risk your life over something so selfish and personal. Especially for another woman that I used to be in love with."  
  
Cover Girl clasped his hands tightly in her own as they stood face to face.  
  
"Don't say such things, Hector," she said gently. "We promised each other, remember? Didn't we promise that we would always be together from now on? When we found you in that fortress, I held you and told you I would never let you go again. I lost you once, I won't lose you again."  
  
Shipwreck smiled. So this is what it meant to be loved by Cover Girl. He had never believed himself to be so happy before now.  
  
"Let me share your burden," Cover Girl said. "Let me support you and help you. I don't care if you think your reasons are selfish. Your dreams are my dreams. Your suffering is my suffering. Your hope is my hope."  
  
Shipwreck was overcome with emotion. He held her.  
  
"Thank you so much," he whispered.  
  
* * *  
  
Dusty found himself standing before the hooded Cobra Commander once again, this time with Storm Shadow standing guard at the Commander's side. The spacious chambers were occupied by Cobra Commander's desk. Behind the Commander was a giant viewscreen.  
  
"I am most interested in hearing your report now, Dusty," Cobra Commander said as he approached Dusty to a distance of ten yards, with Storm Shadow hanging back at his side.  
  
"Yes, I'll be happy to give it," Dusty said as he drew the handgun that had been tucked in the back of his pants and took aim at Cobra Commander.  
  
I'll only have one chance, he thought to himself. Already Storm Shadow was reacting with lightning fast reflexes, hurling a pair of shuriken at Dusty. Dusty fired at Cobra Commander, who was lunging to his side and pulling out a pistol of his own, just as the shuriken hit him. Dusty screamed as the gun went off. He felt intense pain in his left eye and the left side of his neck, and he could no longer see out of his left eye. Storm Shadow hurled himself toward Dusty with his katana to finish him off. Dusty paid no attention to Storm Shadow and concentrated solely on killing Cobra Commander. The first shot had missed, but Dusty desperately fired again, twice hitting the Commander in the chest.  
  
Dusty felt a feeling of grim satisfaction as he watched the Commander fall backwards. At the same time, the katana of Storm Shadow had knocked the pistol out of Dusty's left hand, and Storm Shadow followed up that move with a thrust of his sword that impaled Dusty in the abdomen. A quick kick from Storm Shadow knocked Dusty to the floor.  
  
An eerie silence followed. Dusty was on the floor, half blind, bleeding profusely, with his innards positively skewered. Cobra Commander was on the floor, fifteen yards away, still and unmoving. Between them, Storm Shadow looked on the scene, impassively.  
  
Despite the intense pain, Dusty felt calm and at peace. He had at last atoned for the betrayal of G.I. JOE. It had come at the cost of his own life. But that's all right, Dusty reflected. His own life was a small price to pay for all the friends he had killed indirectly through his own betrayal.  
  
After a few minutes, Dusty heard a grunting sound and movement. With mounting horror, he saw Cobra Commander stagger to his feet. By all appearances, Cobra Commander was a man who had merely had the wind knocked out of him, not a man who had been mortally wounded. There were two bullet holes in Cobra Commander's uniform, but there was no blood.  
  
Oh no, Dusty thought with horror. Oh shit.  
  
How could I have been so stupid?  
  
"Very sorry to disappoint you, Dusty," Cobra Commander sneered as if reading his own mind. "But I have to say I expected more from you. I've already had an attempt on my life, just two weeks ago. Do you think I would allow myself to be caught off guard for a second now?"  
  
Cobra Commander unbuttoned his uniform and revealed the Kevlar bulletproof vest that had saved his life.  
  
"And furthermore," Cobra Commander said as he cocked his pistol and aimed it straight at Dusty's head, "do you think I would allow myself to be caught unprepared for betrayal by a traitor of G.I. JOE, no less?"  
  
Dusty grimaced as he stared at Cobra Commander with hatred.  
  
"You'll lose," he said.  
  
"I think not," Cobra Commander said as he pulled the trigger and ended Dusty's life.  
  
* * *  
  
Carol Demming stood at the corner of 42nd Street and 3rd Avenue, heading for Grand Central Station. Dressed in civilian clothing and carrying a bag on a shoulder strap, she turned back to look on the giant Cobra tower. Even though it was about five miles downtown, the tower was still imposing and fearsome, an enduring symbol of Cobra's domination, the new defining fixture of the New York City skyline.  
  
Tears burned in her eyes. She knew by now that Dusty was dead. She had done as he had asked, even though every atom of her body screamed for her to find a way to stop him and make him understand the madness of what he was doing. But he had not given her a chance to stop him. He knew that she would try and that's why he had planned it to end this way.  
  
Dusty's final letter echoed in her mind. She had read it after Dusty had left her, and already she had committed parts of it to memory.  
  
THE LETTER  
  
Dear Carol,  
  
If you are reading this letter, it means that something has happened to me, and that most likely you will not see me alive again. I'm so sorry that it had to end this way. I'm going to Cobra Commander now to make a report on our raid of G.I. JOE. He doesn't know what happened, but I'll tell you right now: I deliberately allowed the Joes to escape. I turned on my own Vipers and killed them with my own hands. Cobra Commander might suspect this, but he doesn't know, otherwise I would already be dead.  
  
I need you to understand why I'm doing this. Maybe you won't be able to understand, but I pray that someday you will forgive me from the bottom of your heart. I came to Cobra with a mission to infiltrate Cobra. I never intended to become a traitor, but I was trapped after I inadvertently caused the death of Duke. He was the only man who knew that I was only pretending to be a traitor. It was a secret mission that the two of us had worked out together. Once he was dead, there was no way I could go back. I somehow passed the point of no return and I became trapped in this life.  
  
But during this time, I met you, and I honestly fell in love with you. There was a time when I was on the point of leaving Cobra to turn myself into G.I. JOE, but you asked me to stay, and so I stayed. I never really had someone to share my life with like I did with you. I never had a woman I had been so close to in every way. You were the love of my life. I thought that I could be happy in this life with you. Even though I was living a lie, as long as I had you at my side, there was nothing that could make me feel sad.  
  
I think that was a mistake. I wanted to give you everything. I thought we could have it all, but I wanted to be a man that our children could be proud of. I think I realized that I couldn't pretend to be that man. I'm ashamed of what I've done as a Cobra. Carol, there is so much in you that is beautiful and good. I know you. I know you have a gentle and loving heart. You hide it under a mask of unkindness, but unkindness is not part of your nature. Be true to your own heart. Raise our child to be the kind of person you and I failed to become. Love our child as I have loved you. This world has become a terrible place, and I feel that it is my fault. I pray that you will find a way to undo the terrible mistakes we made.  
  
All my love, Dusty.  
  
Carol had been deeply touched by that letter. Something in Dusty's final message to her stirred her soul in a way she had not imagined possible. She had always believed herself to be a hardened and self-centered woman, but he had seen something beautiful and truly good inside of her. Dusty had loved her from the bottom of his heart. There had been a war within Dusty for control of his soul, a war between goodness and evil, and Carol had never imagined the true depths of this struggle. She could see now what it had cost Dusty. How much had he suffered in silence from the unceasing torments of his conscience?  
  
Now Carol Demming stood at the threshold of a new life, a life apart from Cobra. The small swelling in her belly told her that she would not have to face this world alone. She lovingly put her hand on her belly and smiled through her tears.  
  
"I promise you," she said softly and with feeling, "I'll do my best."  
  
I'll do my best.  
  
For you, my child.  
  
For Dusty. 


	29. A New Beginning

For the first time in months, Shipwreck felt he had truly come home. Standing on the deck of the passenger liner, he closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the noonday sun on his cheeks. He smelled the salty sea air. It enlivened him, invigorated him, and almost made him forget that he had once stood on the brink of execution in a Cobra fortress.  
  
Cover Girl joined him on the deck, along with the other passengers who stood about, enjoying the ocean view. They were cruising through the Pacific Ocean, headed for the islands of Hawaii. With Shipwreck clean- shaven and Cover Girl wearing a blond wig, the two hardly resembled their former selves. Their hope was to reach Hawaii and infiltrate the old American naval base at Pearl Harbor, which Cobra had taken over as their major military base in the Pacific.  
  
That was it, of all places. Shipwreck and Cover Girl could both remember standing anxiously behind Mainframe as he found the coded data among the mountains of top secret information stashed on the stolen data CD that had indicated the last confirmed location of Mara. Hawaii, of all places. A chain of islands 5000 miles away, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There, it appeared, they would find the answers they sought. They would find the truth about Mara, and with any luck, would set her free.  
  
* * *  
  
The time for goodbye had come at last. Shipwreck and Cover Girl stood together on the train platform with their bags, ready to board the train that would carry them west. As the two stood hand in hand, they looked in silence at their friends, who had come to see them off.  
  
Flint, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, and Zarana. They were six men and women whose lives had become intertwined together in a common destiny. Fate brought each of them together. Fate had kept them alive to this point as well. Shipwreck thought about all they had been through. Could it truly be that they were the last survivors? How did he manage to make it so far when so many good men and women had died? It wasn't a matter of better training or skills. It was luck. If you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, you were going to get it. Yes it was luck, or perhaps a higher power, God if you will, had kept him alive.  
  
God, if you're out there, Shipwreck thought at that moment, give me the strength to do what I must do.  
  
"Where will you go?" he asked Flint.  
  
"We lost the war here," Flint said grimly, "but there is a new front now. The war in Europe has only begun. We'll join the fight there, from the hills of England, to the beaches of France, all the way to the mountains of Russia if we have to. One day, we'll come back with an army to take back our country. I won't rest until that day comes."  
  
It seemed such a heroic, grandiose sentiment to espouse at such a moment. Here they were a measly group of six people, soon to be four, and Flint was talking about returning with an army to take back a country that Cobra had thoroughly conquered. It was just like Flint to say that. We will never give up. We will never surrender. Only a true Joe would feel that way from the bottom of his heart.  
  
Cover Girl was crying softly. Shipwreck looked at her and understood. Was this truly goodbye? Could this be the last time we will ever see these people alive?  
  
Slowly, Shipwreck stepped forward and shook Flint's hand. He and Cover Girl took turns embracing each of their four friends. Then they stepped onto the train that would carry them away, to their unknown destiny.  
  
* * *  
  
They had come to Hawaii at last. Together, Shipwreck and Cover Girl played the tourists, walking through the streets of Waikiki in garish aloha shirts and sunglasses. With the exception of the occasional Cobra trooper sitting on top of a HISS tank at certain street corners, you could hardly tell that anything in Hawaii had even changed. People went about their daily lives as if nothing had happened. There were rules now, of course, that everyone had to follow, things like obeying curfew and respecting your hard working Cobra officers.  
  
Shipwreck and Cover Girl felt truly relaxed for the first time in weeks. They were very much below the Cobra radar, blending in perfectly with the rest of the civilian population. Together, they cruised through the shopping malls, took pictures, and took a walk along the Ala Moana beach park.  
  
The sun was setting over the ocean as Shipwreck and Cover Girl sat down at a park bench above the sandy beach to admire the view.  
  
Shipwreck held a map of the island of Oahu in his other hand. He unfolded it and put it on his lap, directing Cover Girl's attention to the inlet of water at the southern area of the island, just a few miles west of Honolulu.  
  
"Pearl Harbor," Shipwreck said, tapping the spot on his map with his finger. "Tomorrow, we'll head over there, case the area, figure out our plan. Then we make our move."  
  
They looked into one another's eyes. Both of them seemed to remember the last time they had sat down at a beach like this. It seemed like a million years ago, Shipwreck had confessed his love for Cover Girl on a Saturday morning at sunrise, and she had turned him down and broken his heart. As if sensing the hurt of that bygone time, Cover Girl reached over and gently took his hand in hers.  
  
"There's something I never told you about Mara," Shipwreck said. "I had a dream about her, Courtney. I dreamed that she and I were married, and we had a daughter. Her name was Althea. But you see, the whole thing was fake. Cobra used me, tried to manipulate me by using my feelings toward Mara."  
  
* * *  
  
The house he believed he had shared with Mara and Althea was burning down. Shipwreck could not believe it. He was still in shock that his wife and daughter were nothing more than synthoids created by Cobra.  
  
But I thought you loved me.  
  
Daddy, you're a real drip.  
  
Synthoids. They were synthoids!  
  
What's wrong, Shipwreck? Was there something important in that house?  
  
Tears were running down Shipwreck's face. It was worse than a dream because at least you knew it was all in your head. But this, the synthoid family—it had all seemed so real. He had wanted so much to believe that he really had been a hero, captured Cobra Commander, and married a cured and fully human Mara. He had never known what it would be like to be a husband and a father, with a family of his own. He had never known what it meant to truly have a home you could go back to, where you were always welcomed by those who loved you most.  
  
Now he had finally tasted it, even if none of it had been real.  
  
He didn't want to let it go.  
  
The tears ran down.  
  
"Aw," Shipwreck said sadly, "nothing. Just a dream or two."  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck sat quietly in a corner of the mess hall, once in a while eyeing Flint and Lady Jaye, on the other side of the room. It wasn't that he envied Flint for having Lady Jaye. He envied what they had together, their special relationship. It had been five weeks since the incident with Springfield and the synthoids, and he hadn't been able to get the memories of Mara and Althea out of his head. He thought of Mara every day. Truly, for the first time in his life, he had experienced a life of love and family, and he had liked it. But there wasn't anyone like that in his life now. Mara was gone. He would probably never see her again.  
  
"Hi, Shipwreck, what's going on?"  
  
Shipwreck looked up and saw Cover Girl standing in front of his table, with a tray of food in her hand.  
  
"Can I join you?"  
  
"Uh, sure," Shipwreck mumbled.  
  
Like I care, he thought. Cover Girl was another one of his disappointments. He remembered, long before he had met Mara, he had been attracted to Cover Girl, from the moment they'd first met. He was drawn to her auburn hair, her shapely model's body, and her seductive sweetness. He'd thought he could charm her with his manly ways, but she'd always repulsed his overtures, sometimes violently. Yet there were times in their relationship when they'd been forced to work together and help each other out in the course of a mission. In that setting, they had formed a grudging respect for one another.  
  
Man, Cover Girl is hot.  
  
Too bad she hates me.  
  
Shipwreck looked at Lady Jaye and Flint again.  
  
There's someone special out there for everyone, except for me.  
  
"Are you okay?" Cover Girl said.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You've been kind of distant the last few weeks. It's not like you."  
  
"And what am I normally like?"  
  
"Well, you know."  
  
"No, tell me what I'm normally like. Loud and obnoxious, right?"  
  
"Hey, I didn't say that."  
  
"Sure, but you think that. Listen, Cover Girl, I don't need your sympathy act. Go and bother someone else."  
  
Cover Girl blushed out of anger and embarrassment.  
  
"Suit yourself, sailor boy," she huffed. "Just thought you'd like some company, that's all."  
  
With that, Cover Girl picked up her tray and got up to leave their table.  
  
Unexpectedly, she felt something tugging at her hand.  
  
It was Shipwreck, reaching out to stop her from leaving. His grip on her hand was firm yet tender. Cover Girl, against her will, felt her hand heating up for some reason she couldn't understand.  
  
"Aw, come on, I'm sorry," Shipwreck stammered, "I didn't mean that. Would you have lunch with me?"  
  
Cover Girl stood uncertain for a moment, weighing the situation, debating whether to laugh in his face like she had done so many times before. Then she noticed the genuine pained look in his eyes and reconsidered.  
  
What happened out on that island five weeks ago?  
  
"I'm just a nothing sailor," Shipwreck said. "I'm an idiot sometimes."  
  
Cover Girl smiled.  
  
"Naw, I wouldn't say that."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"You're an idiot all the time," Cover Girl said, her smile widening.  
  
* * *  
  
The two of them sat on that park bench on the beach, thinking back to that faraway time.  
  
"So that's why you were like that," Cover Girl said, understanding everything for the first time.  
  
"I had the best dream of my life," Shipwreck said. "But that's all it was, a dream. I lost that dream, it burned down right before my eyes."  
  
He turned to face her, a tender look in his eyes.  
  
"I went back to G.I. JOE, but nothing was the same anymore. I couldn't go about feeling the same way about everything. For everyone else, life was exactly the same, unchanged, but for me, nothing was the same anymore. I couldn't understand how everyone could go about doing their daily lives, when I'd had this wonderful dream of the way things might have been. But you reached out to me, Courtney. I never really understood our relationship. It was like a love-hate relationship since the day we first met."  
  
"Mostly hate, I would say," Cover Girl laughed.  
  
"Yeah, anyway, you reached out to me. I guess you saw my loneliness and wanted to become more of a friend to me. And I was touched by that. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you. But I didn't know how to tell you, how to show you how I felt about you. I guess I really blew it, back then. But I never stopped loving you, not for one second."  
  
Cover Girl touched her hand to Shipwreck's lips.  
  
"Don't talk about it anymore," she said. "We're together now. Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Hector. I love you so much."  
  
Shipwreck leaned over toward her, and their lips met. Their kiss was light and innocent, but then it deepened into something more passionate and hungry. Shipwreck slipped an arm around Cover Girl's back to hold her closer to him, and Cover Girl in turn put a hand on the back of his head to bring him closer. Their kiss continued as their tongues began exploring each other's mouths. With his other hand, Shipwreck caressed Cover Girl's face, and his fingers trailed down her face, her slender neck, her collar bone, all the way down to her left breast, where it rested. Cover Girl felt his hand on her breast through the thin fabric of her shirt and bra, and she felt her body inflamed by his touch. She knew at this moment how much he wanted her, and how badly she wanted him. Of course he had wanted her for a long time, but for the first time, she was ready to give herself to him, her whole body. Their kiss broke off at last, and Cover Girl reached down to cover Shipwreck's hand with her own as it rested on her breast. Both of them were breathing heavily. Their faces were flushed with passion, desire, and years of longing suppressed and denied.  
  
Cover Girl moved Shipwreck's hand on her breast, a little downward.  
  
"My heart is beating so fast," she whispered.  
  
They kissed again.  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck could not say what it was about that day that stuck out so much in his mind. One year they were sharing a Christmas dinner together, along with the rest of their friends. It was an innocent time, a happier time, far from the conquests of Cobra that would come years later. They were sitting at a table with Low-Light, Mainframe, and Scarlett. The room was lit only by candlelight and by the colored lights of the Christmas tree at the far end of the mess hall, near the entrance.  
  
He couldn't even remember what they were talking about that night. All Shipwreck knew was that sitting across from him was one of the most beautiful, wonderful women he had ever known. She was smiling and laughing, talking about something he had long since forgotten. He remembered the way the candlelight danced across her face and the sparkle in her eyes. He remembered that the whole room seemed to fade out in his ears, even the sound of Cover Girl's voice, as he sat entranced by her. Everything he had ever wanted in a woman was right in front of him: beauty, gentleness, kindness, intelligence, and grace. He felt his heart thumping in his chest, and the butterflies in his stomach. All he wanted at that moment was to hold her tight. That's when it hit him.  
  
Am I in love with Cover Girl?  
  
Is this what it feels like to fall in love?  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck emerged from the shower dressed in his underwear and a long bathrobe. His towel was slung around his shoulders. He walked into the common room, wondering if he should ask Cover Girl whether she wanted the bed. He would have been content to sleep on the floor.  
  
But all such modest thoughts vanished when he saw Cover Girl lying on the bed, dressed in nothing but a thin shirt and panties. Shipwreck's eyes traveled up and down the length of her luminous, perfect body, admiring her soft beauty. He could not fail to notice the way her nipples pressed against the thin fabric of her shirt, or the small tuft of pubic hair between her thighs not covered by her small underpants. Then the reality of the situation hit him at last. They were finally alone, just the two of them, sharing a hotel room with a single bed, just a few hours after sharing a most desperately passionate kiss.  
  
"Come to bed," Cover Girl said in a voice thick with desire and longing. It was obvious that she could see the growing bulge in Shipwreck's underpants.  
  
Slowly but surely, Shipwreck crossed the distance between them, throwing off his robe and towel and joined her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her furiously. It was a matter of seconds before both of them were completely naked, their bodies pressed against one another beneath the bed covers. Cheek to cheek, naked skin against skin, with his cock moving against her womb, they were finally together as one body. No one would have been able to tell where one ended and the other began. All the years of desire and frustration, attraction and animosity, longing and agony, vanished in the instant their bodies were joined in this act of true love.  
  
Shipwreck's hands and lips were everywhere, on her face, her neck, her full breasts, her belly. His hips moved rhythmically against hers, until they both felt themselves nearing their sexual climax. Cover Girl gave one final scream as the pleasure overtook her, and the two lovers settled in each other's arms, their faces flushed and sweating.  
  
"It's been too long," Cover Girl said lovingly as she brushed her fingertips against Shipwreck's sweat-beaded forehead.  
  
It's been too long since I was with a man in this way.  
  
It's been too long from the moment I fell in love with you, that we could finally make love.  
  
But we're together now. And that's all that matters.  
  
Cover Girl leaned over and kissed him gently once more, and they drifted off to sleep.  
  
* * *  
  
It was overcast the next day when Shipwreck and Cover Girl stood on a high hill that overlooked Pearl Harbor and, under the cover of bushes, examined the naval base through binoculars.  
  
The fenced off perimeter of Pearl Harbor was heavily guarded by HISS tanks and STUN vehicles. A pair of Cobra flight pods made the rounds above the complex, making routine patrols. A concrete path, heavily guarded by armed Cobra troopers, led to the Arizona Memorial, a giant concrete memorial that had been built above the sunken ruins of the USS Arizona, a permanent reminder of the December 7, 1941 attack.  
  
Or at least that's where the Arizona Memorial used to be. Now in place of the Arizona Memorial was a giant offshore complex, a behemoth of concrete and steel rigging. The structure rose to a height of five stories, standing tall above the water.  
  
So that's it, Shipwreck mused. That must be Cobra's maritime laboratory. What are we going to find there? Who are we going to find?  
  
He felt Cover Girl squeezing his hand.  
  
"You okay, Courtney?"  
  
"I'm with you," she replied.  
  
"Looks pretty scary for just the two of us, huh?"  
  
"Yeah. Any ideas?"  
  
"I'm starting to get one right now," Shipwreck said as he swept his binoculars across the base one last time.  
  
Shipwreck put his binoculars away and the two lovers exchanged a knowing look.  
  
"We move tonight," he said with determination.  
  
Together, Shipwreck and Cover Girl picked themselves up and walked the short distance to the nearby parking lot, where their car waited to take them back to the hotel. 


	30. Breathe

The pale moon lent a ghostly illumination to the giant floating fortress off of Pearl Harbor as two lone figures emerged from the water at the bottom of the base. Dressed in black wetsuits and scuba diving gear, Shipwreck and Cover Girl had silently made their way through the waters of the harbor, stealthily moving to one of the sides of the fortress. Above them, a flight pod circled the waters, lighting up a narrow field with a searchlight. Cobra Vipers paced back and forth along the catwalks placed on each side of the fortress, just above water level.  
  
Shipwreck closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Below them, the ghostly ruins of the sunken ship the USS Arizona lay as a silent testimony to the mighty nation that once was. He sighed as he removed his scuba mask and Cover Girl did the same. They looked at each other and eyed the steel wire frame of the catwalks above them. A Viper walked above them, the clicking sound of his shoes hollowly echoing from the steel bars of the catwalk.  
  
Both Shipwreck and Cover Girl placed a metallic object the size of their hands onto the foundation of the floating fortress. It was a timed explosive, the last of a series of bombs they had placed around the base with great care. Shipwreck looked at his watch, which he had synchronized with the timers of the other bombs, and he set the timers on the remaining bombs.  
  
The display on the two bombs showed that sixty minutes remained to detonation.  
  
"Let's go," he said to Cover Girl.  
  
They had an hour to get in, take a look, and get the hell out. There was no turning back.  
  
Mara was in there, somewhere.  
  
I have to know, Shipwreck said silently to himself.  
  
The two Joes quickly reached up, grabbed hold of the bars of the steel catwalk, and quietly climbed up a few feet, over the edge of the railing, and onto the catwalk itself. A few yards from where they were, a door opened to the base. The guards were not looking their way. Shipwreck and Cover Girl sneaked their way along the walkway and slipped through the door.  
  
* * *  
  
Submerged in a large glass tank, a shapely woman opened her eyes in the cold saline water and blinked a few times. She remembered again where she was: deep in the bowels of a Cobra fortress, out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, imprisoned and alone. Her mind half-numbed from sedatives, the woman peered out through the glass shield of her tank and noticed several other people in similar large immersion tanks, the subjects of unknown horrible experiments.  
  
Were they feeling the same pain she felt?  
  
Did they once have someone precious in their lives, someone that had been torn away from them by the cruel hands of fate?  
  
Mara vaguely remembered that a long time ago, she had been recaptured and returned to the life of a human guinea pig. She had long lost track of how long it had been since the day she and her sister had said goodbye through the glass in that Cobra lab.  
  
Yes, I did have a sister, didn't I?  
  
Her name was Margaret.  
  
Her mind flashed back to a time when they were playing together as children. They were pure and whole, their bodies and minds untainted by Cobra. It was a time of innocence, but innocence would be lost forever. A single defining moment lingered in her memory that the passage of time could not erase: the memory of their hands pressed against opposite sides of a similar glass tank, saying goodbye forever.  
  
The time since then hadn't always been painful. She vaguely remembered a time when she had actually been freed from Cobra's influence, free to wander the seas as a mermaid, just like she had dreamed.  
  
There was a man. He had been kind to her. She could not even remember his name anymore. Her attempts to recall him at best conjured an image of a bearded man, strong yet gentle. He had helped her. He had loved her, and she had loved him.  
  
And yet—  
  
Images of intense pain and betrayal racked her mind. She saw that same man striking her in the face, shoving her to the floor. He would roughly tear off her clothing, grab her naked breasts like some kind of predator, and suffocate her as he forced himself on top of her.  
  
No, it wasn't supposed to be this way. Not like this. She wanted that gentleness she loved so much.  
  
His hard member pressed against her, forcing its way inside her own sexual organ, seeking release. And as he came inside her, his hands found her throat and throttled her, until she felt her vision growing dark and her mind fading into bleak emptiness—  
  
Mara shook her head violently as she lay in chains in the immersion tank, a stream of bubbles jetting from the gill slits in her neck. She was brought back into the present.  
  
What were these awful memories?  
  
Have I lost my mind, she pondered alone.  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck and Cover Girl, dressed now in stolen Viper uniforms, walked deeper into the heart of the floating fortress. They had reviewed the layout of the fortress from the secret building plans that had been part of the cache of Mainframe's stolen files. It had been half an hour, and they had finally reached the top level of the fortress. A door at the end of the hall would lead to a large room where many of Cobra's experimental subjects were being kept, subjected to cruel and inhumane procedures. Somewhere in that room, Mara was suffering.  
  
As they crossed into the room at last, an alarm went off in the intercom system. Red lights flashed throughout the hall, and a warning klaxon sounded.  
  
"Attention, all personnel," a Tele-Viper announced over the intercom, "we have detected the possible presence of two intruders. They are dressed in the uniforms of Vipers. Increase security. Commence sweeps on all floors immediately."  
  
Apparently, the two Vipers the Joes had killed for their uniforms had been found in the broom closet on the bottom floor. Shipwreck shrugged. It was only a matter of time, anyway. Now the pressure was on.  
  
As Shipwreck and Cover Girl raced into the experiment subject room, they took out their flashlights and pistols and held them at the ready. The room was surprisingly unguarded. The room was dimly lit, and they could make out the vague outlines of twenty large cylindrical, glass immersion tanks, all of them containing what looked like people. A pair of incandescent lights in the center of the room offered what little illumination they could provide. Shipwreck and Cover Girl could feel the stillness of the room air as they stepped across the damp tiled floor. A battery of computers stood at the opposite end of the room, connected to each of the immersion tanks, apparently monitoring the physiological states of the test subjects.  
  
A pair of mounted wall cameras silently tracked the two disguised Joes as they made their way through the room.  
  
Cover Girl shivered as she peered into each glass tank. Some of them were men, others were women. All of them had various physical deformities. Many of them had fish bodies grafted on from the waist down. Others had crustacean claws for hands. Still others had the dark, slithery skin of eels; they were eels from the waist down. All of them appeared unconscious or half-conscious.  
  
"I've found her," Cover Girl heard Shipwreck say.  
  
She rushed over to his side at the end of the room and together, they beheld Mara. To their deep shock, she was no longer a mermaid. Her lower body appeared to be human once more. She was completely naked inside the glass chamber, although tubes snaked in and out of her every bodily orifice. Her eyes opened and Shipwreck thought he detected a spark of recognition. She shuddered inside the tube, struggling against her restraints.  
  
"Hold on, Mara, I'll get you out of here," Shipwreck said.  
  
Cover Girl looked at Shipwreck and an unavoidable question crossed her mind. Did he still love Mara? If so, what of her own relationship with Shipwreck, and the love they shared? Just the other night, they had made passionate love for the first time, and she had never felt so fulfilled, so happy. She could have died at that moment, right there in his arms, so peaceful and calm. All along, ever since Shipwreck had shared his story with her, she had never questioned his feelings for her. Cover Girl understood in her heart that Shipwreck loved her with all his heart and all of his body and all of his soul. They belonged to one another, at long last, their destinies intertwined. This woman that Shipwreck needed to save, this Mara, was a woman of his past. She was someone he needed to help, nothing more. Would Shipwreck drop everything at the sudden reappearance of an old flame? Now that Mara was found again and appeared normal, perhaps there would no longer be any barriers between the onetime lovers. Cover Girl knew it wasn't so, and yet part of her heart doubted the truth of Shipwreck's love for her, all the same. When he had become friends with her, wasn't it the very time when he was still consumed with thoughts of his lost love, Mara? She, Cover Girl, had been a consolation for him. She was the girl he settled for, not the one he truly desired.  
  
Cover Girl stood there, watching Shipwreck smash into Mara's glass tank with a night stick. Cracks appeared and spread throughout the glass, and water began seeping slowly out. Cover Girl watched this silently, her mind elsewhere. She never knew that she had entertained such doubts about Shipwreck before. Perhaps she was feeling a tinge of jealousy. After all, Mara had been first. She was perhaps his first love. There was something precious about that, wasn't there? Something special to that first love, the one who got away. All this time, all of these years, after all the times she had rebuffed his overtures and finally found a place for him in her heart, these thoughts, long buried in her subconscious, emerged to the fore. What would happen now? And for the first time, Cover Girl felt afraid that Shipwreck might not love her, after all.  
  
The glass gave way at last, and the water came pouring out onto the floor in a torrential flood. Shipwreck reached inside the tank and gently removed the tubes and electrodes from Mara's body. Together, he and Cover Girl pulled her out of the tank and laid her onto the floor.  
  
"Mara," Shipwreck said with excitement as he leaned over her and draped a blanket over her bare shoulders, "it's me. It's Shipwreck. Remember? I've come to help you. I'm going to get you out of here."  
  
Shipwreck pulled off his Viper mask, and Cover Girl did the same.  
  
For a moment, Mara's eyes grew moist, and she seemed on the point of tears. Then, she closed her eyes in pain, and she shuddered in horror. When she opened her eyes again, they were different, full of fear and loathing.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
Mara's hands reached out and grabbed Shipwreck's neck without warning. She throttled him and shoved him away, sending him to the floor gasping.  
  
Cover Girl, shocked and alarmed, lunged to grab Mara and subdue her, but Mara kicked her hard, landing a knee in the stomach and knocking the wind right out of her.  
  
The two Joes groaned in pain. More footsteps approached from outside, loudly. A dozen flashlights illuminated the scene now, and Shipwreck peered weakly toward their direction.  
  
"Mara, why?" he gasped.  
  
A single man emerged from behind the bright flashlights. It was a tall, bald man who wore a mustache and a monocle. There was no mistaking Dr. Mindbender.  
  
"Welcome," Dr. Mindbender said, "to your doom."  
  
* * *  
  
Shipwreck blinked in disbelief. He could not believe that they would run into Dr. Mindbender here, of all places. Throughout the whole war, Dr. Mindbender had been out of the spotlight, his movements unknown to G.I. JOE intelligence for months. Was this what he had been doing all this time? Experiments?  
  
The Vipers quickly disarmed Shipwreck and Cover Girl and made them stand up in front of Dr. Mindbender, with a fully nude Mara at his side. Mara's face showed no emotion or feeling as she stared blankly at Shipwreck. Vipers held the Joes by the arms as they faced their captor.  
  
"I see you have found our special lair," Dr. Mindbender said, looking toward Mara with a lascivious gleam in his eyes.  
  
"Once," Dr. Mindbender continued, "you Joes stumbled upon the mermaid we created, Mara. You freed her. You never again saw such freaks of nature. But in reality those experiments never ended. We have continued, for all these years, to produce the ultimate amphibious Cobra soldiers.  
  
"However, we came across a problem," Dr. Mindbender said. "We realized that our tissue grafting process was irreversible. Once you became a mermaid, you could not be turned back. Not that we really cared. But as a scientist, I pondered the question myself out of curiosity, and it was only when we recaptured Mara many months after her escape, that the solution came to me."  
  
"And what's that?" Shipwreck said.  
  
At a motion of Dr. Mindbender's hand, the Vipers released him. At the same time, Mara stepped forward and punched Shipwreck in the face, sending him again to the floor. Cover Girl cried out in horror, but the Vipers held her fast. While Dr. Mindbender laughed, Mara stepped forward and put her foot on Shipwreck's chest. She pressed down, hard.  
  
Shipwreck howled in pain. Her foot was so rock solid, and it applied an incredible amount of pressure, enough to crush his body. How was this possible?  
  
"Cybernetics," came the answer from Dr. Mindbender. "I have succeeded in grafting robotic legs to Mara's lower body. They work just like human ones, except they are so much more powerful. They are perfect. They never fatigue or grow weak and infirm with old age. You are looking at the future of all Cobra soldiers. Cybernetically enhanced super soldiers who will rule the world for a thousand years."  
  
* * *  
  
The images would not leave Mara's mind. She saw herself being beaten and raped by the man she thought she loved, Shipwreck.  
  
Another image came to her mind. She was standing in the doorway of the suburban home they had shared together, along with their daughter Althea. Both Mara and Althea were crying inconsolably. Shipwreck was leaving now, leaving in the arms of another woman, a woman with long red-brown hair. Mara felt betrayed. She thought Shipwreck had loved her. Hadn't he told her so, many times, in all their tender moments together? What would happen to her? What would happen to their family? Her heart was broken.  
  
Don't you love me anymore?  
  
I never loved you, Mara. It was a lie. I only wanted you for the sex. You had spectacular tits and a nice ass. But the romantic bullshit is over. It's hard to enjoy banging you when I have to worry about having some brat kid every time I come inside of you. Sorry, bitch, I'm hitting the road.  
  
Then laughter.  
  
Mara felt her head hurting. What was the meaning of all these strange memories? First he was beating her, then he was breaking her heart by leaving her for another woman. It just didn't make sense somehow. And here she was, standing over that man, the hated Shipwreck, her foot ready to crush his chest and kill him.  
  
Somehow, it didn't seem to fit. She should be glad that vengeance was hers at last, but it just didn't feel right. This was not the way she had imagined seeing him again. The Shipwreck she remembered was cruel and hard- hearted. He would have laughed at her with scorn and taunted her to the end. But this Shipwreck was afraid and vulnerable and confused. He didn't seem to understand.  
  
She would have to make him understand.  
  
"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Mara said at last.  
  
"Why?" Shipwreck pleaded with her.  
  
"Because—because—"  
  
Another image was coming to her. The full moon shone brightly over the night shores of Kona Tonga, and Mara the mermaid was holding Shipwreck in her arms. They were kissing goodbye for the last time.  
  
Stay with me, Mara. I love you.  
  
I can't. I belong in the sea now.  
  
"You broke my heart. You hurt me and our daughter."  
  
Our daughter?!  
  
It occurred to Shipwreck that perhaps Mara had been subjected to the same kind of memory manipulations that he had once gone through at the hands of Cobra.  
  
"Mara," Shipwreck said desperately. "I don't know what Cobra did to you, but whatever they put into your head about you and me, it's not true. They're lies, Mara. You have to hear me and know the truth. I loved you, Mara. I just want you to be happy. That's why I came to set you free."  
  
Stay with me, Mara. I love you.  
  
"Hurry up and finish him, bitch," one of the Vipers said in a bored voice. "We ain't got all day."  
  
Mara's foot remained on Shipwreck's chest. Shipwreck was crying out in pain. Cover Girl was crying out for Shipwreck, pleading with Mara to stop. Dr. Mindbender remained laughing.  
  
Mara took her foot off of Shipwreck, put her hands to her face, and crumpled to her knees on the floor.  
  
"WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO ME?" she shrieked in agony.  
  
Everyone in the room stared at her in shock. This was not part of the script. Dr. Mindbender was most surprised of all. He kicked Mara sharply in the buttocks.  
  
"What are you doing? Kill Shipwreck. That's an order, slave!"  
  
Mara turned her face toward Dr. Mindbender, and her eyes were filled with anger and hatred. Before Dr. Mindbender could react, she swept her leg out across the floor, knocking him flat on his back. Dr. Mindbender's head hit the floor as well, rendering him unconscious.  
  
"Kill her!" a Viper shouted.  
  
At the same time, Shipwreck and Cover Girl saw their opportunity and lashed out at their captors, turning the tables on them. The flashlights fell to the floor and rolled away, leaving the room in near darkness, with flashlights shining in random directions on the floor as punches flew and bursts of gunfire rang out.  
  
When the chaos was over, all twelve Vipers lay on the floor, unconscious or dead. Shipwreck and Cover Girl stood up, marveling that they had managed not to get shot. Then they remembered Mara, who was still lying on the floor.  
  
She was bleeding from gunshots to her abdomen and chest. Her legs had been shot out as well, revealing the robotic hydraulics and servos beneath the synthetic skin.  
  
"Mara!" Shipwreck cried as he went to her side. Both Shipwreck and Cover Girl stood at either side of Mara, helping her to her feet.  
  
The alarms went off again, with renewed loudness.  
  
"They'll be here any second now," Mara said weakly. "The two of you have to go, now. Leave me."  
  
"No, I won't leave you. I made a promise," Shipwreck said.  
  
The three of them staggered to the hallway outside of the large lab room.  
  
The elevator opened at the end of the hall, and four Vipers came running out, their guns at the ready.  
  
But Shipwreck and Cover Girl were ready for them. With each of them supporting Mara with one arm, their free arms brought up assault rifles and fired, making swift work of the Vipers.  
  
The three made it to the elevator, and punched the button for the bottom floor. When they reached the bottom floor, gunfire erupted in their direction.  
  
"Get away from the door!" Cover Girl cried, pushing Mara to Shipwreck as she found slim cover on the other side of the elevator door. There was a large number of Vipers firing at them.  
  
The firing stopped, and Cover Girl and Shipwreck exchanged glances.  
  
"Grenades!" a Viper shouted.  
  
Uh, oh, Shipwreck thought. He could imagine a dozen grenades being thrown into the elevator. If that happened, it would be adios muchachos.  
  
Before the Vipers could throw their grenades, a tremendous explosion rocked the entire fortress.  
  
Shipwreck looked down at his watch. Of course, the bombs. In all the chaos, he had completely forgotten about them.  
  
The entire fortress shook, as if gripped by an earthquake, and began tilting to one side at a 15 degree angle.  
  
"It's an attack! Everyone outside, now!" a Viper shouted.  
  
Shipwreck peered out the elevator. Vipers were running about in the hallways in panic and confusion. For the moment, it appeared that Shipwreck, Mara, and Cover Girl had been forgotten. Fires had broken out everywhere, and sprinklers throughout the base activated in automatic response. Sections of the walls were breaking down, and parts of the ceiling caved in.  
  
Amidst all of this, klaxons sounded, and Tele-Vipers shouted over the intercom, "Abandon the base! Everyone to land!"  
  
In all of this confusion and chaos, no one had time to care about two people dressed in Viper uniforms struggling to carry a naked, bleeding woman.  
  
"We'll never get out at this rate," Shipwreck grunted. He motioned for Cover Girl to let go of Mara.  
  
"I've got to carry her if we're going to get out."  
  
He tried to put Mara over his shoulder and walk with her, but he found that he could not support her weight. Why was she so goddamn heavy?  
  
Then he saw the ruined cyborg legs, and the answer was clear. All those robotic parts must have added to her weight. Shipwreck considered himself a strong man, but he was straining just to walk a single step with her on his shoulder.  
  
"Put me down, Shipwreck," Mara said softly.  
  
Shipwreck put her down, the two looked each other face to face.  
  
"Mara, I have to get you out of here. I promised your sister that if I ever found you, I would bring you back to her."  
  
Mara smiled.  
  
"So you met Margaret," Mara said. "How is she?"  
  
"She's fine, never mind her," Shipwreck said.  
  
Time was running out. The fortress was tilting now at an even more precarious angle. More explosions and fires were breaking out everywhere. It was now or never.  
  
"I came here for you, Mara. I found out you were out here, suffering, and I came here to save you. You've got to make it."  
  
"No, it's too late," Mara said. "I'll only slow you down now. You have to leave me. There's no other way."  
  
All the memories came back to Shipwreck at that moment, hitting him with full force. All the nights he had spent alone, thinking about their farewell out on that South Pacific island. The dream he had had about their life together, with their daughter Althea. Flint and Lady Jaye standing with him as they watched the house he had shared with Mara and Althea burn down. The nights he had wandered the beaches alone, thinking about what had happened. All the pain, all the loneliness. It had only healed through his friendship and love for Cover Girl. But he could never forget the hurting.  
  
"I'm so sorry," Shipwreck said, tears beginning to run down. "I failed to save you."  
  
Mara smiled serenely and shook her head, ignoring the pain of her wounds.  
  
"You're wrong," Mara said. "You did save me. I was alone, suffering here, and thinking that you hated me. Thank you for saving me, Shipwreck. Thank you for loving me."  
  
Now Mara was crying too.  
  
"Mara—"  
  
"Don't say anything more, just go," Mara said through her tears. The world seemed to be falling down all around them.  
  
She looked at Cover Girl, who was also crying. Mara smiled.  
  
"I can tell that you found someone special," Mara said to Shipwreck. Mara took Shipwreck's and Cover Girl's hands and joined them together.  
  
"I'm so happy," Mara said.  
  
Her eyes closed, her breathing stopped.  
  
"Goodbye, Mara," Shipwreck said, as he and Cover Girl got up and took off for the nearest exit.  
  
When they reached the catwalks that rimmed the fortress outer walls, the same catwalks they had come in on, they could tell that the fortress was beginning to sink into the waters of the harbor. The catwalks were flooded with water. Cobra soldiers everywhere were frantically swimming away from the sinking fortress.  
  
"Go, go, go!" Shipwreck yelled as he urged Cover Girl over the catwalk railing.  
  
At that moment, something exploded behind Shipwreck, knocking him out and sending him flying in the water after Cover Girl.  
  
"Hector!" Cover Girl yelled as she swam to him and made her way to shore with him in her arms.  
  
* * *  
  
Far out of sight from the other Cobra soldiers, Cover Girl and Shipwreck lay together on the beach. Cover Girl watched the smoking fortress sinking further into the water. Soon it would join the USS Arizona in the deep, it appeared.  
  
Shipwreck wasn't breathing. Cover Girl was alarmed. She frantically laid him on his back and rapidly performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him.  
  
"Breathe," Cover Girl shouted at him. "Breathe!"  
  
Tears were falling down anew. They landed on his face.  
  
She did the life support procedures for a minute and still, no response.  
  
How could it end this way? It was too soon. It seemed they had only found each other. If only they could have seen the truth of their feelings for each other sooner. So much time lost between them, so much wasted time and missed chances for love.  
  
I'd promised, Cover Girl thought to herself in despair. I'd promised that I would never let him go again, that I'd cherish him and love him forever. It can't end this way, not here on this beach. Please, don't leave me all alone, Hector. I love you so much. I want to fight Cobra with you. I want to see the day with you when we finally win our world back. I want to be with you always, have your children, and live the life we dreamed of together.  
  
Don't leave me now.  
  
"Breathe, you son of a bitch!" Cover Girl screamed as she slammed the bottom of her clenched fist squarely on Shipwreck's chest and collapsed on top of him, sobbing loudly.  
  
For a frozen moment in time, there seemed to be nothing in the whole world except Cover Girl, Shipwreck, and the sand beneath them. There was no sound but that of Cover Girl's sobs.  
  
"I love you," she whispered.  
  
There was silence. And then—  
  
The sound of coughing. Cover Girl's eyes flew open, and she shot up to her knees, looking down at Shipwreck. She turned his head to the side, allowing him to cough up the seawater he'd aspirated. She could see the color returning to his face and his body. Relief flooded her whole being, giving her an enormous sense of peace. She knew then that everything would be all right, no matter what obstacles came between them, no matter how much the world changed around them. No matter what happened on heaven and earth, they would be together, held fast by bonds of love.  
  
"Hey you, Gorgeous," she heard him say.  
  
He smiled at her weakly as she cradled him in her lap, stroking his hair with her hand.  
  
"Hey you, yourself," Cover Girl smiled, leaning down to kiss him with renewed longing and passion.  
  
She was crying again, but now she cried tears of joy.  
  
* * *  
  
Somewhere, at that very moment, in a desolate place they called the Proving Grounds, there was a brilliant flash of light. When the light faded, the bodies of seven Joes lay on the ground. A cloud of dust surrounded them. The dust settled, revealing seven Joes. Their names were Flint, Lady Jaye, Clutch, Grunt, Footloose, Airtight, and Steeler. One moment they had been fighting Cobra at a river near the forest, and now they found themselves in this strange barren place.  
  
They were Joes from another world, a world where Cobra had not taken over. In that world, Dusty never met Carol Demming, and he never betrayed the Joes. Steeler never fell in love with the Baroness. Shipwreck never saw Mara again, nor did he ever meet her sister. And all those brave men and women—Snake Eyes, Scarlett, and so many others—were still alive.  
  
"What happened here?" Steeler said, completely bewildered.  
  
Emptiness and desolation as far as the eye could see. Somewhere in the far distance, a car was buried at the foot of a ravine. That car held the bodies of Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch. In this world, those Joes lay dead, their bodies nothing but decomposed skeletons.  
  
A new story would be told here. The story of seven Joes from a parallel world who brought hope to another world that lay suffering and in decay. It would be a story of a Baroness who would be reunited with her lover, although not in a way she had ever dreamed. It would be a story of two factions of Cobra, one loyal to Cobra Commander, the other loyal to Destro, and the beginnings of a great civil war, with the Baroness and Layla at the center. One by one, the players would reunite on the epic stage of war and conflict. Shipwreck and Cover Girl, returning from their mission to save Mara. The other surviving Joes, Flint, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, and Zarana, who would return with friends from Europe to engage a divided Cobra in a final battle. And somewhere, a woman named Carol Demming, carrying the child of Dusty, who would return with the hopes of the world resting on her shoulders.  
  
But that is a tale for another day.  
  
THE END  
  
May 3, 2004  
  
* * *  
  
A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR  
  
"The end..." or is it? For now, I think this is the end. I have now reached an appropriate stopping point, which I've been thinking about in the back of my head for months. It would have been easy to abandon the story, but I hate to leave a story unfinished. Now it's finished, sort of. I have now accomplished what I'd set out to do from the beginning, which is tell the entire story of everything that happened before the Joes from the alternate world showed up in the episode WORLDS WITHOUT ENDS. I have done that, in a way that resolved storylines from the episodes COMPUTER COMPLICATIONS, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE SPRINGFIELD, and THE TRAITOR. This story actually started out nearly two years ago as a one shot deal. Back then it was titled "Desire," and it was just a story about Mainframe and Zarana separated from one another. Some people who reviewed the story wanted more, so from there it became a story linked to WORLDS WITHOUT ENDS.  
  
I would certainly love to continue the story and tell it like I hinted at in the final paragraph. It would be the sequel to the 2-part episode. I noticed one other writer on this site has written a sequel to WORLDS WITHOUT ENDS, which I have not read. So anything that I write would be completely original. I am going through some life transitions which will severely limit the amount of time I have to be writing anything. I'm soon to graduate from medical school and enter medical residency in internal medicine. I imagine I'll have no time to write fanfiction. With the time I do have to chill and hang out, I'd frankly rather be watching anime. I've been watching lots of them lately. Right now I'm watching Kimagure Orange Road, so that takes up lots of time right there.  
  
If you liked this story and want to see more of it, NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO SPEAK UP! Perhaps one day I will get around to writing it. At 70,000+ words, this is the single longest story I have written, and also the most reviewed. If I continued the story, it would easily have reached 100,000+ words and become a truly epic story. As much as I would love to write the WAR AND PEACE of G.I. JOE fanfiction, I'm just too busy. Even if I do write more, I'll be updating at a slow rate. I've been going months between updates lately. It used to be one every three days, back in the day. Since this is possibly my swan song in G.I. JOE fanfiction, I'd like to thank everyone who read and liked my work, even the people who used to read my stuff but don't anymore. Thanks to Shana, Tesub Calle, Tophat, Kim Fitzsimmons, Isis, and Cover Girl. It's been fun. 


	31. PART TWO Diary of the Baroness

PART TWO  
  
"Diary of the Baroness"  
  
It's so hard to comprehend the events of the last few days. It all feels like a dream. Sometimes I still have the nightmares. I see myself standing before Steeler on that wrecked stage, denying him before Destro, saying I never loved him even though we all knew it was a lie. I did love Steeler. I loved him with all my heart. Who would ever have thought such a thing possible? Me, the great and beautiful Anastasia DeCobray, fall in love with an ordinary Joe? The memories come back to me as I stand there facing Steeler for the last time. I see him through the prison bars as I tease him, I feel the way he kissed me in that dark corridor, I remember the hunger we both had when we made love for the first time.  
  
Our primal hunger for one another became something more. We became dependent on one another, we could not live without one another. I lived for his touch, for his kind and tender words, for the smile on his face. He loved me. No one ever had truly loved me in that way before.  
  
And yet, I denied him. He offered me a chance to run away with him, and I turned away from him.  
  
Why did I do that?  
  
I was afraid.  
  
There's a whisper in my heart telling me that I should have gone with him, that love could have found a way.  
  
Fool. Then I'd be dead too.  
  
Couldn't I have done more? Couldn't I have stopped Destro and saved the love of my life?  
  
It seemed to me that my life ended that day. Something died when that fire came down from the sky and all but disintegrated my beloved Steeler. Destro claimed me as his own. He ravaged me, he destroyed me. He owned my flesh but not my heart. Layla knew. Layla understood. We said one day we'd look for our chance, and together, we'd get out of Cobra. Get out of this life that had gone so wrong. Three years ago, I would have been happy to have a part in ruling the world with Destro at my side.  
  
Strange isn't it, how falling in love changes you.  
  
The months went by, and then something happened that changed everything. It was like something out of a dream, a fantasy, something that only happened in the fairy tales. Layla told me that Steeler was alive, along with several other Joes who had been thought dead. I didn't want to believe. I didn't want to be tricked and have my heart broken all over again. I had to see him with my own eyes.  
  
There was so much joy in my heart when I saw him again. I held his face in my hands and looked into his eyes, wondering if it was a dream. My Steeler had come back to me. And yet he seemed not to understand, he seemed not to remember the precious memories we'd made together. He seemed different. This Steeler told a story of coming from a parallel world, a world where Cobra had never conquered the world. A world in which none of these terrible things had transpired. I thought he was mad. But this Steeler WAS different from the Steeler I knew. The Steeler I knew had a tattoo on his left arm. This one had a tattoo on the right instead. At first, I doubted my sanity. Then I cried, because I knew that it must be true, everything, all of it, and the Steeler I loved was truly dead. For a moment, it felt like he had died all over again.  
  
At that point, I knew what I had to do. I had to help this Steeler and his friends get back to where they had come from. Steeler, the old Steeler who was gone, would have done the same thing. In order to help the Joes get back to their home, I tricked both Cobra Commander and Destro. I played them against one another. It was something I would have done with pleasure in the past, but this time I felt nothing of the sort. It was just something that had to be done. There had always been this uneasy tension between Cobra Commander and Destro. Cobra Commander held the throne but it was Destro who had made it all possible, with his myriad mad inventions. Destro held second in command but sometimes it seemed he felt he deserved it all. Like a sense of entitlement. And Cobra Commander, who felt insecure in his position, was jealous of Destro's ability and worried that one day his lieutenant would turn against him. It was easy to start this dirty little war.  
  
The dirty little war that would one day become known as the Great Cobra Civil War.  
  
When it was time to say goodbye, Steeler and his friends stood in front of the strange portal on the Proving Grounds. And even though I knew this wasn't the Steeler I had known, I felt a deep sadness all the same.  
  
"I'm losing you a second time," I said to him, and I hugged him. Tears ran down my cheeks.  
  
Steeler stood in front of the portal with his friends, a look of uncertainty on his face. He was drawn to me, there was something special that he saw in me that he had never imagined in me before. He was intrigued. He had never imagined the Baroness could be so gentle and loving.  
  
But that's what happens sometimes, to a person who falls in love.  
  
Finally, he looked to his friends and said, "Nothing's waiting for me on the other side."  
  
Grunt and Clutch stayed behind as well. They said something about wanting to rebuild G.I. JOE and take back this world.  
  
That night, Layla and I found a hideaway with Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch, across the Potomac, away from the capitol, where the battle raged between the forces of Cobra Commander and Destro. We could hear the distant sounds of explosions and anti-aircraft fire raging through the night, and I shuddered to think that I had been the cause of it. Perhaps if not the cause, the catalyst.  
  
We were staying in an abandoned hotel, and Steeler and I watched the night sky light up periodically in the distance from the window facing the river. We sat next to each other on the bed. Everyone else was asleep in the other rooms. I looked down at Steeler's hand and put my hand over his.  
  
He blushed slightly. I could tell, even in the darkness. His heart was beating quickly.  
  
"You're a good man, Steeler," I said. "You're a little shy, aren't you? Don't be, my darling."  
  
"The Steeler you knew," he said, "what kind of a man was he?"  
  
"He was a good man," I said. "Passionate and brave and... so gentle."  
  
"I'll never be able to replace the man you loved," Steeler said.  
  
"I know," I said softly. "I will always love and cherish the Steeler who died. Yet when I look at you, I see..."  
  
"What do you see?"  
  
"A second chance."  
  
"A second chance? At what?"  
  
"At love... at life."  
  
I started to cry soft tears. He turned to me and brushed his fingers against my cheek.  
  
"Something terrible must have happened to you. You want to talk about it?"  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"Let's not talk about what's past. Let's only hold on to what's before us."  
  
I leaned over toward him and we kissed. It was soft, gentle, tentative. Like stepping out into uncharted lands. I took one of his hands and placed it over my breast. Unconsciously, his hand began to knead and stroke my breast, and feel of his fingers rubbing over my nipple through the thin fabric of my nightgown sent a quiver of pleasure through my body. He wanted me. Perhaps he had always wanted me, even before he came to this world. Perhaps he had always found the woman called the Baroness attractive, and desired her. And likewise, I desired him long before he even crossed over into my world. Our breathing quickened. Our movements grew clumsy and heavy. We toppled onto the bed, naked and hungry for each other.  
  
"Please, make love to me," I whispered. "I've waited so long to have this feeling again."  
  
I held onto him with all my passion and longing. Making love to him, feeling the rhythm of his body's movements, was like coming home again, in a way. But this time, I thought to myself, it will be different. We're together. I'll find a way for us, and this time I won't be afraid.  
  
I promise.  
  
Never again.  
  
We came together in that dark hotel room, with the thunder storms of war sounding not far away.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I have been thinking about continuing the story, and decided to write this. Updates will be slow in coming, but I will be thinking about this story from time to time, perhaps dreaming up new stories when I'm lying in bed, about to go to sleep...


	32. A Night in St Petersburg

SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Three Months Later

The snow flurries fell gently, swept along the streets by the brisk December wind. A single woman walked along the bridge that crossed the Neva River, dressed in the thick, drab clothing of winter. Her face was buried under layers of carefully applied makeup, and her hair was uncharacteristically long and dark colored. A red scarf covered half of her face.

Zarana, a master of disguise and deception, waited on the mostly empty bridge with a growing feeling of anxiety. Perhaps she had made the wrong decision.

She knew little of the civil war that raged thousands of miles away, on the eastern seaboard of the United States. There were vague rumors that Cobra Commander and Destro were fighting amongst themselves, that the Baroness had left Cobra, and that several Joes long thought to be dead had suddenly reappeared. But the reality of her world had not changed. Cobra forces had marched relentlessly across the European continent, destroying everything in their path. They had reduced much of the European populace to subservient slaves. Europe was a conquered country.

Not that she, Mainframe, Flint, and Lady Jaye hadn't tried to stop Cobra. They fought alongside the Europeans and attempted to organize resistance in conquered territories, but it was like running your head against a wall.

And now, Cobra was making its push further east, into the Russian heartland. Already Saint-Petersburg had fallen, after a bloody and protracted resistance. Moscow was under siege. The war front had moved relentlessly along and had swept the Joes along with the tide of conflict. While Zarana and her friends tried to stir up resistance in Saint-Petersburg, events seemingly larger than themselves were taking place hundreds of miles away. Sometimes Zarana felt like she was watching herself in this strange, sad drama, rather than actively participating in it. Nothing she and her friends had tried seemed to matter. Cobra always won.

A Cobra trooper was shot to death in a crowded bus station on Nevsky Prospect, St-Petersburg. The assassin escaped into the crowd of onlookers, who apparently then hindered the pursuit by failing to move out of the way quickly enough so that Cobra forces could capture him.

It was one of many events that seemed to happen every day in the city. For some reason, the Cobra authorities were unable to stop these sporadic outbursts of random violence.

But were they truly random?

"I received a coded message from one of my French contacts," Mainframe said to Zarana, Flint and Lady Jaye as they ate dinner together at a dingy, smoke-filled café.

"What did it say?" Lady Jaye said.

"The Oktober Guard wants to join forces with us," Mainframe said.

There was stunned silence around the table.

"I thought the Oktober Guard was decimated in Kiev," Flint said.

"Some have survived, apparently," Lady Jaye said.

I am of the Oktober Guard. Meet me at Kissing Bridge at sunset on 12 December.

"What if it's a trap?" Lady Jaye said after a long silence.

"We have to take the chance," Flint said.

"I'll go," Zarana said.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"I'm the type who can blend in. No one will even notice me. I'll go alone."

Later that night, Mainframe took Zarana aside and they walked through the snowy night, hand in hand.

"Are you sure about this?"

Zarana nodded.

"I'm worried."

"Don't be."

"We've always been together, ever since that day," Mainframe said.

Of course, he meant the day they had finally reunited in New York's Central Park, after months of careful planning. Months of longing and desire, remembering the feeling of being with one another, of being physically intimate with one another, and wanting to hold each other closely.

"I know," Zarana said, and she turned to her lover. They kissed each other on the street with a kiss that began as something light and gentle but grew into something deep and hungry. What followed after that was a blur to both of them; they hastily made their way back to their flat. Once in the privacy of their own room, they lost themselves in each other completely. Mainframe ground his body into Zarana's, thrusting inside her with urgent passion, as if afraid that if he let go for a second, she would vanish in his arms. Even after they had both reached their climax, he continued to hold onto her tight, pressing her hot, sweat-soaked skin against his own.

"Let me do this," Zarana said. "I want to help you."

"I know," Mainframe said with a smile. "I'll believe in you."

The time for the meeting was drawing near, and Zarana calmly checked her watch. It was 6:36 pm, and darkness was descending quickly upon the city. Two young people, probably lovers, walked arm in arm along the bridge, passing by Zarana without a thought, who remained where she was, gazing across the river at the row of short buildings lined up along the far bank. For a moment, she felt a shiver run through her body and wondered if she were being watched from across the river. She strained her eyes in the dim light of dusk and the haze of the snow flurries but could not make out anything. In every building and in every window, she fancied that she saw a shadow of a man watching her, perhaps with binoculars.

An occasional car rumbled along the snow covered pavement, churning up a slushy mix of snow and grime.

A man approached Zarana on the bridge, very slowly and deliberately. Perhaps this was the one she was waiting for. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was dressed in a dark, long trench coat, and a scarf covered his face. A woolen cap covered his head. He looked to be a man about her height, and athletic in build. Zarana could tell even with that trench coat on.

The code words were the question "Would you walk with me," to which Zarana would respond, "Through the deepest valley."

The man stood by her side and said nothing. Together they gazed out toward the river bank.

After a long silence, the man said, "Would you walk with me?"

Zarana was about to turn and respond when she saw the man's face. He had taken down his scarf, and Zarana was confused. It was the face of her beloved Mainframe, staring at her with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"What—Blaine?"

"I said," the man with the face of Mainframe said, "would you walk with me… sister?"

Zarana at once realized that something had gone wrong. Somehow, her communication with the Russian Oktober Guard had been intercepted, and the person coming out to meet her, if he or she ever intended to at all, was not her ally.

It was Zartan.

In the next instant, before Zarana could even contemplate a plan of escape, a loud gun shot echoed across the river, and Zarana felt a sharp pain right above her left knee. She crumpled to the snow in shock, her blood staining the white snow beneath her.

She had been taken out by sniper fire, she realized. Someone had been watching her all this time, from across the river, watching and waiting for this moment. She had been doomed from the moment she'd stepped foot onto the bridge.

There was laughing all around her. Zarana weakly looked up and saw Mainframe's face transform before her eyes, through a trick of holography, into the face of Zartan.

"We meet again," Zartan gloated as Ripper, Buzzer, and Torch ran onto the bridge to meet them, all dressed in winter garb. A dozen other Viper soldiers came running to secure their captive as well.

"I knew we would," Zartan said. "And did I not say last time that I would not hesitate?"

Zarana said nothing.

While Zartan and the Dreadnoks looked on and the Vipers trained their guns on Zarana, one Viper stepped forward with a medical field kit and began applying a tourniquet to stop their prisoner's bleeding.

"You won't escape this time," Zartan said as he endured Zarana's bitter glare of hatred, "no kick in the gut and running off into Chinatown, no pleading with me to let you go. This time will be different. Did you know you and your Joe friends have been a thorn in our side, even though there are so few of you remaining? Cobra Commander sent me here to destroy you and crush all resistance. Way the hell out here in Russia. This fucking country. Can you imagine the effect this weather is having on a Florida swamp dweller like myself?"

"How did you know?" Zarana said.

"Oh, you mean _her_," Zartan said scornfully. "She was a fool to try to meet you. I am the police. Nothing happens here without my knowing. Not even the meeting of two rats in a pile of slime in the dankest subway."

"Who?"

Zartan smiled.

"Daina," he said. "that's what she's called. Sniper Daina, the last surviving member of the Oktober Guard."

Another man was walking down the bridge toward them. Zarana felt herself growing weaker by the minute, from the cold, the loss of blood, and the shock of meeting with her brother, her sworn enemy, again. Who was this tall man who now approached? She could barely begin to make out the face above the thick winter coat. He wore a pair of red goggles, and a ski cap was pulled over his head. He walked toward them deliberately, with his rifle slung over his shoulder.

Zartan and Buzzer stepped aside to make way for the newcomer.

"Excellent shot, Low-Light," Zartan said to the sniper as he walked up to the prone Zarana.

"Low-Light?"

Zarana was even more shocked. Low-Light was alive? How could that be? She distinctly remembered the frantic car chase, when she was at the wheel and Mainframe and Low-Light were in the backseat. They were desperately trying to escape Thrasher and Zartan in the Thunder Machine.

Bullets spraying through the rear window.

A sharp swerve, and a thunderous crash.

And when Zarana had emerged from the car, she knew that Low-Light was gone. She knew just by looking at him, his still, unmoving form.

How could Low-Light still be alive?

What was he doing here with Cobra?

Low-Light raised the rifle.

"Lights out," he said as he brought the butt of his rifle down on Zarana's head, sending her into darkness.


	33. The Grand Inquisitor

When Zarana awoke, she was in a small room dimly light by a single incandescent light bulb hanging a few feet above her head from the ceiling. The concrete interior was bare and desolate. She sat alone, tied to a wooden chair by her hands and feet. There were no windows; only a single door in front of her showed any way out.

The door opened, and Zartan walked into the room alone. Zarana's muscles tensed up at the sight of her brother, and at once she felt a sharp pain in her left leg, which remained bandaged. A small circle of blood at her wound showed through the white strip of tightly wound gauze.

"You know what I want, Sister."

"But I won't give it to you."

"We'll see about that. I warn you, I will not be gentle."

With that, Zartan slapped her hard across the face, so hard her head rolled to the side, her teeth shook, and she felt the sting for minutes afterward.

"Where are your friends, traitor? Where are the rest of G.I. JOE? Since you are here, then Mainframe must be here. And if Mainframe is here, Flint and Lady Jaye may also be here. And if they are here, I must personally see to their destruction."

"Go screw yourself," Zarana said.

Zartan punched Zarana in the stomach, and she slumped forward in agony, the wind knocked out of her. Her head was spinning. She felt like she was going to vomit.

You'll go alone, but we'll be watching you, from a distance. If something happens, we'll know and we'll help you.

I'll be fine, love. You won't have to worry about me at all.

The words she and Mainframe had exchanged before she had gone out to that bridge echoed in her mind. Yes, Mainframe and the others had seen what had happened. They would know that she had been captured and would have followed her all the way here. Wherever "here" was. She had no idea, having spent an unknown amount of time unconscious following Low-Light's butt to her head.

I can't rely on them right now, Zarana reflected. If I wait for them to save me, I might be dead before they can reach me.

Zartan reached down and grabbed his sister by the collar. He knelt and looked her in the face.

"Why do you have to be like this? How could you do this to me, your own brother?"

Blood trickled down Zarana's lips as she glared back.

"Why?" Zartan shouted. "_Answer me_!"

And at that moment, Zarana began thinking about another time, another place. She was thinking that she was no longer in this bleak interrogation room, but on the highways of Australia, where she and her brother had grown up. Their middle class parents may have suspected what kind of delinquents they had raised, but they never showed it. Zartan and Zarana were always well behaved at home. But there were the fights at school. The fights did not end when school ended; violence followed the two siblings wherever they went, until there was a time when, standing over the bodies of four people they had just shot to death on the side of a quiet highway at night, they felt it was time to move on. Time to find new horizons, time to explore new venues for criminal opportunity where no one knew who they were. They became assassins for hire, killing men, women, and children indiscriminately, not caring about who they knocked off, as long as there was money involved. They were a circus of mayhem, traveling together across the United States, committing crimes without compunction.

"Are we not brother and sister?" Zartan demanded in anger. "Did we not grow up together and run the mean streets together, knocking off any poor sap who got in our way?"

"We are brother and sister," Zarana said.

One day in a bar in south Florida, a mysterious man approached Zartan, who sat alone drinking a beer. As Zartan later told his sister, the man had a thick mustache and wore dark sunglasses and a fedora, along with a full navy blue suit.

I hear you're a man of many talents.

What's it to you, dipshit?

I run a very ssspecial organization with great use for an individual of your… talents. Your skills in the martial arts, marksmanship, and disguise are unsurpassed.

You've done your homework, I see.

Here's my card. You may contact my representatives at this number here. See that? That's the number for Extensive Enterprises. Tell the receptionist your name when you call. Tell them you'd like to speak to Tomax and Xamot. I'll look forward to hearing from you. Should you decide to join us, we'll go far together.

How far?

Someday, we'll have the world in the palm of our hands.

The world…

"Then why?" Zartan said. "Why turn your back on me, after everything we accomplished together? The world was ours and you threw it away."

"I love him," Zarana said simply, looking her brother straight in the eyes. "I've loved him for a long time. Maybe one day you'll understand. You don't know what it's like to love someone that way. To have your every waking moment filled with thoughts of that one person. To picture her in your mind and hear her voice, and long for the moment you can see her and hear her and _touch_ her again. You don't know what it feels like."

"Still you speak of _love_," Zartan spewed contemptuously. "I still don't understand what you saw in a little wuss like Mainframe, and I never will."

"He's special," Zarana said. "He's the only one who treated me kindly, made me feel like a woman."

"Is this the life you want? To be running around like a nobody, trying to avoid being seen, like a rat in the sewer? You choose this life, and you will be harassed at every turn. Because I'll tell you right now, you cannot win. Cobra is in charge now. One day soon the whole world will be ours, just like we used to dream. You give up this dream, and your life will be filled with misery and pain. Tell me now what I need to know, Zarana. It's not too late to come back into the fold. Cobra Commander may not be forgiving but I will be. I will protect you, and you will be one of us again. Perhaps you could even bring Mainframe along. He's G.I. JOE, but it's nothing that a few mental 'adjustments' can't fix."

"You mean like what you did to Low-Light," Zarana said.

"Oh, yes, Low-Light," Zartan said. "He's a special case, you see. He died that day in Washington, DC, you know. He died in that car crash, as you might recall."

"Then how?—"

"We recovered some of the bodies of the Joes who had been killed during the attack that day. Some of them were in fairly good condition, and we were able to save some fresh tissue for cloning and re-programming."

Cloning. Of course. Dr. Mindbender and Destro had been working on a number of crazy scientific experiments, enough ideas and information to inspire a thousand science fiction novels. First it had been the weather dominator, the mind control gas, then human transfiguration experiments, and now this. Cloning. It was the next step, one of the few unexplored frontiers in science. Already it was no big deal to clone animals like mice and sheep. Human cloning, seen in this light, was nothing.

"Why?"

"Why not?" Zartan said. "Think the way the Commander would. Why waste such a talented soldier when you could bring him or her back to your side? So much more reliable than the anonymous Viper foot soldier, wouldn't you agree?"

"Does he remember—"

"Of course not. Why would they? The point is, we have tremendous power now. I can make all your dreams come true. Think of it this way: the love of your life, with all the comforts of world domination. Ain't that the life, sister?"

"No, that's not true," Zarana said. It wouldn't make it right. She knew it was Mainframe's dream to free the world from Cobra's grip. If she took that away, she would be betraying his dream. She would be betraying him.

"The two of you could fuck any time you want, and then afterward enjoy the world like it's your burrito. I ask you this: can life get any better?"

I couldn't live that way, Zarana reflected. It wouldn't be true, it wouldn't be right. When I loved Mainframe, his dreams became mine. I'm not Cobra anymore, and I never can be. Not after this. Not ever.

"Now tell me," Zartan said, putting his hand under Zarana's chin and lifting her eyes to his. "Tell me where your friends are, how many of them there are, and what their plans are. Tell me, and we can work something out. We are, after all, brother and sister."

Zarana stared back, refusing to answer. Her eyes reflected her resolve.

Zartan slapped her again, this time on the other side of her face. Now both cheeks were raw.

"Have it your way," he said as he backed away toward the door. The door opened, and Buzzer walked in, dressed in his black police uniform, his ponytail hanging down the back as always.

"One way or another," Zartan said as he walked out the door, "you're going to talk. If I have to break every bone in your body, break your heart, break your mind, break your spirit, I will. I swore I would, remember? That I would not hesitate."

Zarana said nothing as the door shut, leaving Buzzer alone with her in the room. Buzzer rubbed his fists together and licked his lips. Zarana didn't have to be able to see past his dark glasses to know that he was thinking about something nasty and repulsive.

Buzzer did not waste any time. He punched her hard in the stomach, causing Zarana to howl in pain and double over. She felt a burning sensation in her upper belly and wanted to throw up. She felt Buzzer's hands roughly grab her by the hair and jerk upwards to face him.

"I believe I owed you that one," Buzzer said, evidently remembering the time Zarana had attacked him in order to save Mainframe all that time ago.

"Zartan said I can do whatever I want," Buzzer said. "Whatever it takes to make you talk, or kill you trying."

He continued to hold her head up and Zarana noticed how uncomfortably close his face was to hers. Buzzer paused, as if realizing this closeness, and looked down appreciatively toward Zarana's chest.

"You know, no one is watching," Buzzer said softly. "I can do whatever I want to you, and Zartan will never know. He might even approve if he did."

Buzzer reached down and with one downward move tore open Zarana's shirt, popping several buttons in the process. Zarana's breasts, covered by the thin lacy white material of her bra, were revealed. Zarana, tied to the chair and bound by hands and feet, could do nothing but shut her eyes in disgust as Buzzer pulled down her bra, exposing her nipples.

"You and I have known each other quite some time," Buzzer said, "and I've always thought you were one hot bitch. I've always wanted to shag you, but Zartan would have kicked my ass."

He began caressing Zarana's breasts with his hands, playing with them, squeezing her taut nipples.

"You've got a nice set of tits," Buzzer said. "I want to suck on them."

He proceeded to do exactly that, groping and sucking like a madman. At the same time, he began undoing Zarana's belt buckle. He was going to take her right there, strapped to the chair.

No, Zarana screamed in her mind. You can't touch me like this, you can't touch me there, only Blaine can touch me there, you asshole—

Zarana screamed in anguish while Buzzer continued to violate her.

"Scream all you want, bitch," Buzzer said as he continued his fiendish ministrations.

At that moment, the lights went out.


	34. Standoff

SIX MONTHS AGO

Washington, DC

The fires still burned throughout the area of the city where G.I. JOE had launched a desperate attack on the main Cobra fortress. The pillars of smoke had not yet cleared and the dead men and women of Cobra had not yet been carted away when Cobra Commander and Destro stood together with the remnants of the Cobra elite, in the underground passageway leading into the fortress, calculating the damages. The whole fortress lay in near ruins, a smoking, burning heap of concrete and metal that was a shadow of its former self. Sections of the main tower had been bombed out. The courtyard was covered in debris. The ramparts facing the grand stage bore the tell-tale signs of the grenades that had taken out Beach Head and a platoon of Vipers. Far away, in the Proving Grounds, a desolate, barren testing area in Maryland, a smoking car held the charred corpses of Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch.

Cobra Commander was furious, having barely escaped death by a long range shot from the rifle of Low-Light.

"Absolutely intolerable!" he screeched for the tenth time as he paced back and forth in front of Destro, Zartan, the Baroness, and Storm Shadow.

"Cocksuckers! How dare they wreck our fortress! How dare they make an attempt on my life! I want the Joes. I want their heads!"

Zartan gestured toward the line of dead Joes on the floor. The bodies of Low-Light, Beach Head, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes were lined up against the wall. While Beach Head, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes were burned almost beyond recognition, Low-Light's body was in relatively good condition.

Zartan said nothing of the confrontation he had had with his sister on that street corner. Zarana, with a wounded Mainframe on her shoulder, had pleaded with him to let her go. And he had let her go. He still did not understand why. Perhaps he had gotten soft with age. He was not the kind of guy who would admit to loving his sister. She may have been his sister, but they were enemies now.

If we meet again, I will not hesitate, not for a second.

"We've determined the identities of the other Joes who attacked us today. Cover Girl, Flint, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, and Zarana. Their objective apparently was to rescue Shipwreck."

"And kill me at the same time," Cobra Commander reminded Zartan.

Destro's eyes narrowed at Zartan.

"Just how did Mainframe and Zarana manage to escape, and Thrasher end up dead?"

"Hell. I don't know," Zartan retorted. "We got into a goddamn car crash. I was knocked out. I don't have a head of steel, like _some_ people, in case you forgot."

"What will we do with the bodies?" Storm Shadow asked.

"We will burn them. Burn them into dust."

"Have you thought, my dear Commander," Destro said, "that these dead Joes may be of value to us?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Consider this. Each of these Joes is worth ten times a regular Cobra foot soldier. Take Low-Light, for example. His sharp shooting skills are second to none. And Scarlett, with her martial arts ability"

"Yesss," Cobra Commander said. "Yes."

"Dr. Mindbender has only just now reported successful trials of human cloning, from his laboratory in the Pacific. We should save these specimens—"

"Yes," Cobra Commander said. "We'll take these Joes and turn them against their own, starting with the one who tried to kill me."

He knelt down next to the body of Low-Light.

"You'll be my soldier now. I shall personally teach you the glory and wisdom of the Cobra way. The Joes are still out there, and you will help us find them. You will help us destroy them."

The unfeeling, quiet face of Low-Light lay still, hearing all and registering nothing.

THE PRESENT

Saint-Petersburg, Russia

One block away from the police headquarters where Zarana and Daina were incarcerated, three Joes were hard at work setting up a break in. Beneath the streets, Mainframe had identified the power lines snaking into the police headquarters. While Flint and Lady Jaye positioned themselves outside the heavily guarded police building, hiding around the corner of the neighboring building, Mainframe worked on laying a series of bombs that would not only take out the power leading to the building, but all buildings within a ten block radius.

"Mainframe, come in," Flint's voice came in on Mainframe's headset.

"I'm here."

"How much longer?"

There were voices coming from around the corner. Mainframe had hoped that he would be able to avoid running into Cobra patrols in the sewer tunnels. It was unavoidable now.

"Hold on, I've got company."

"I don't like this. I won't hesitate to abort this mission. You understand?"

Mainframe shook his head. There could be no question of failure. Zarana was in there, probably suffering. He had seen her, from across the river and through high power binoculars, watched her as she'd been shot and then beaten by Zartan. He'd felt so helpless, he'd wanted to scream her name out loud and come to her aid, but Flint had grabbed him. We'll save her. It's not over, you understand?

I must not fail.

Three Vipers, armed with assault rifles, coming his way. Mainframe shook his head as he retreated into the shadows. Damn it, in just a few seconds, they would come across the first of his bombs. He'd planted more than ten of them throughout the sewers.

"Wait for my signal," Mainframe whispered fiercely into his headset. Before Flint could protest that this was getting too dangerous, Mainframe cut the signal.

The lead Viper swept his flashlight back and forth, lighting a path through the narrow, dank sewer tunnel. He stopped as he came across Mainframe's first bomb, sitting on the circuit breaker like a cockroach on a pile of food. Mainframe thought of detonating the bomb right then, but then he would be killed, too.

I must kill them before they alert the others.

"Hold it," the Viper said, raising his voice in alarm. The other two Vipers standing behind him stopped. The first Viper raised his walkie talkie to report his findings, but before he could say anything, Mainframe's pistol shot rang out through the tunnel, and in the next instant, the lead Viper had fallen dead, a bullet right in the face mask.

Before the other two Vipers could pull up their guns, mounted with flashlights, and fire back, Mainframe dropped them with two shots each. He turned on his headset and took off running through the tunnel, guided by his night vision goggles.

"Flint," Mainframe huffed into his receiver, "Be ready to go on my signal."

As he ran past the three fallen Vipers, one of them reached out and grabbed his leg, tripping him and causing him to fall over, head first, into the water.

"You little shit," the Viper cried breathlessly as he leaped onto Mainframe, who, in the water, had only just turned around to face him.

Mainframe had dropped his gun in surprise, and now he struggled with the wounded Viper, who was trying to stab him with a combat knife.

"I'll cut you," the Viper said, even as he bled from his abdomen. Mainframe grappled with both hands. The knife was so close to his throat. Inch by inch, the Viper brought the blade closer. How could the son of a bitch be this strong after being shot, Mainframe wondered. He was so close to dying. One second away from a knife in his neck, and then it would be all over. And at that moment, at the moment he was about to be killed, his mind desperately reached out for something to hold on to, some source of strength beyond his own, and he saw her face. He was remembering the day she had met him, dressed as an army officer. She'd been a spy then, an enemy. He saw her again, when, much later, they'd made love for the first time in that room in Brooklyn. He'd felt what it was like to be inside her, to feel her inner core contract against his own in ecstasy, and they'd kissed with all the emotional and physical hunger their souls had for one another. It was a moment he'd longed for, for so long. He remembered the stabbing pain of parting with her in the chaos of Manhattan's Chinatown later the next day, forced to separate in order to escape. How could he let her go, after they'd finally acknowledged that they loved one another? To be with her, to be one with her, to be intimate with her. That's what he yearned for. All I wanted was to be with you. I can't lose you again, not like this. Zarana, I _will_ see you again, he cried out in his mind.

With all his strength, Mainframe rolled and threw the heavier Viper off his body, sending him crashing into the wall, next to the bomb. Before the Viper could get up and attack him again, Mainframe reached down to the pack around his waist and set off the switch, even as he took off running, hoping that he was far enough to be safe from the explosion that ripped through the tunnels.

"Go, go, go!!!" he shouted into the receiver, signaling to Flint and Lady Jaye to start the attack.

The shock of the blast singed his back and sent him flying forward, into the knee deep water. He held his breath as the brief explosion ripped through the tunnel, sending jets of flame through the air above the water.

Not far from where Zarana was being interrogated by Buzzer, Daina was strapped to a chair of her own in a window-less room, staring defiantly at an impassive Low-Light.

Daina, the last surviving member of the Oktober Guard, was a slender, beautiful woman with long black hair and angular, chiseled features. Her face had hardened after years of fighting and hardship, but her soft eyes still bore a spark within them, a spark that seemed to say that she, too, was a woman with a gentle heart, beneath her tough, cold exterior.

It was her cold exterior on display now before her nemesis, Low-Light.

"You Russians are broken. You just don't know it," Low-Light drawled as he paced in front of her, waving his pistol around in front of her, occasionally bringing the point of the barrel right in front of Daina's nose.

With her hands tied behind her with rope, Daina looked up at Low-Light and his pistol and said nothing. Hidden from her captors was the razor blade she was slowly using to cut through the ropes that bound her.

"I know something," Low-Light toned emotionlessly. "I know you are the last of the Oktober Guard, but still you resist. There are more of you, scattered throughout the city. You plan an uprising, a Russian Revolution, to drive out the invaders. But let me tell you something, sister. This ain't 1812. It ain't 1941, either. Russia is nothing now. There's no God, no country. There is only one reality. Cobra is that reality."

Low-Light stooped down to bring his face close to Daina's. There was something pleasant about Low-Light that Daina couldn't put a word to. He wasn't absolutely repellent like the Dreadnoks. He was a strong man, a laconic though talented man, but a wounded man. Something haunted and tormented him, but he kept it to himself, putting up a front of strength and manly toughness. What was that something?

Loneliness?

And in spite of herself, Daina felt an upwelling of compassion in her heart for the Joe sniper turned Cobra.

"I know about you," Daina murmured.

"What's that you say?"

"I know about you, Low-Light," Daina said. "You were the best G.I. JOE sharpshooter. See, I'm a sharpshooter, myself."

"Is that so?" Low-Light said, nonplussed.

"I never got to meet you, but I knew about you. I knew you were the best. And I always wanted to prove that I was better. You were my competition. I looked up to you, in a way."

Daina felt her voice beginning to choke. She was remembering the old days with her team. Memories of soldiers like the stout, mustached Horrorshow and the tall, stern Colonel Brekhov, their leader. They were like family, but then Cobra came and tore them apart. She wondered if Low-Light had gone through the same heartbreak. Surely he had, since G.I. JOE was all but destroyed. Daina clung to that, hoping to find a way to connect with this man, to reach out to him, so she could escape from this jam.

"What happened to you? What did Cobra do to you?"

Low-Light stared at Daina and said nothing. Stupid woman. What the hell was she blabbing about? Since the earliest days he could remember, he was a Cobra man. Cobra Commander had taken him in, you see, he'd taken him in and shown him that there was no one he could depend on but Cobra. Cobra was the rock upon which he could hang his hopes. The Cobra was logical, it was perfect, it was right. He'd learned this a long time ago, like a child learns the rules of grammar in grade school. He'd learned to despise good and love evil.

In a flash, an image came into his mind. He saw himself suspended naked in a large tank of water, with tubes coming out of every bodily orifice. He looked out through the glass and faintly made out the image of a man dressed in a blue uniform, with a silver plated face mask. For a brief moment, he felt utter horror at his situation and the most intense anxiety and fear. Then everything would go black—

Low-Light clutched his head.

"No," he moaned. "no."

"They brainwashed you, created false memories in you," Daina said. "Listen to yourself talk. No Joe would ever talk that way. They did something to you, can't you see? You have to remember, Low-Light. You have to remember _who you are_."

"No!" Low-Light shouted. He slapped Daina across the face with his free hand.

"Just shut up already!" he cried.

The ropes were cut through. Daina felt her hands free up behind her back as she remained seated on the chair in front of Low-Light.

"You bitch, you have names. Give me names and you'll live. Refuse and I'll blow your head clean off."

"I don't think so, my friend," Daina said.

With that, she leaped off the chair and tackled Low-Light, knocking his gun to the floor. The two wrestled desperately, rolling over across the floor and knocking the chair off its legs, sending it crashing to the floor. The struggle ended in less than a minute with Daina on top of Low-Light, her legs firmly intertwined in his, her body pressing his to the floor, unyielding. Having recovered Low-Light's pistol, she now had the barrel jammed straight up into Low-Light's chin, from below. For a moment, Daina was conscious of an uncomfortable feeling of closeness between the two of them, with their bodies pressed so tightly against one another, but she quickly dismissed the thought. She smiled at Low-Light.

"Go ahead and do it," Low-Light scowled. His eyes burned through those red goggles of his. "Shoot me."

"No," Daina said, before she brought the gun up and pistol-whipped him across the head, knocking him out.

The lights suddenly went out.

The moment the lights went out, Buzzer was about to rape Zarana. He had his mouth on her right breast, slurping on her breast like a starving refugee, while at the same time reaching down with his other hand into her groin. Despite herself, Zarana was beginning to grow wet down in her privates, although she was screaming in protest all the way.

The lights went out.

"Eh?" Buzzer lifted his mouth from Zarana's breast, confused.

Zarana didn't care at that moment for the reason for the blackout. She took advantage at once, bringing her head down hard against Buzzer's.

Buzzer cried in pain as he slumped to the floor, his hands leaving Zarana's body at last. Zarana, still tied to the chair, brought her weight forward and fell down to the floor, chair and all. Zarana acted quickly. Her back was to the prostrate Buzzer as they both lay on the floor. While Buzzer continued to moan in pain and utter, "You bitch, you bitch," Zarana found the knife strapped to one of Buzzer's thighs and grabbed it, maneuvering herself so that she could cut through the ropes that bound her hands behind her back to the chair. The moment the ropes were cut, Zarana reversed her grip on the knife and jabbed Buzzer blindly, stabbing him in the upper thigh, dangerously close to his groin. Buzzer screamed.

"You piece of shit, I'll teach you to mess with me," Zarana said as she groped around in the dark and found Buzzer's ponytail. Buzzer jerked upward in a vain attempt to escape, but Zarana was prepared for that and jerked him back. She shifted her grip to the hair on top of Buzzer's head and savagely slammed Buzzer's head against the floor three times, screaming obscenities at him.

"Take that, you cockbite!" Zarana hollered as she drove his head into the floor for the last time. As Zarana cut through the ropes binding her feet and stood up, she wondered whether Buzzer would live. She was strongly tempted to cut his throat, but decided not to. It was hard to resist the impulse to kill. Before she'd met Mainframe, she'd never had a problem with offing someone. But Mainframe changed all that. He'd changed her.

Zarana stood up and felt the shooting pain in her left leg, and she remembered she'd been shot. Blindly fumbling for the door, Zarana found the doorknob and let herself out, hobbling weakly the entire time.

I won't make it, she thought to herself. I need something, some kind of crutch.

The police headquarters was a scene of total chaos. In the darkness, screams and gunfire pierced through the periods of intermittent silence. Vipers ran past Zarana, indifferent to her. Someone was attacking, killing Vipers left and right, they were shouting. The gunfire and shouting were growing closer. Unknown to Zarana, Flint and Lady Jaye were tearing through the hapless Cobra police officers as they systematically swept through the building, going from hall to hall, equipped with night vision and silenced handguns.

Zarana fingered the handgun she had grabbed off of Buzzer, and she drew the gun.

I can't see a damn thing.

Zarana hobbled forward with the gun pointed in front of her, like a compass leading her way. The darkness began to resolve when the emergency lights came on, a faint red hue that barely illuminated the halls with the color of blood. At the end of one of the halls leading away from her interrogation room, Zarana saw Mainframe, just a few yards away.

"Zarana!" Mainframe said with a smile, holding his arms out toward her.

"Blaine—"

Before Zarana could say anything more, another Mainframe appeared behind the first Mainframe.

"Zarana," the second Mainframe said, cutting off abruptly at the sight of the other Mainframe.

Zarana looked from one to the other. What the hell? Two of them?

Both Mainframes pulled their guns on one another, and Zarana drew her gun on the first Mainframe. They formed a triangle now, engaged in a strange Mexican standoff. Two Mainframes, only one of them was real. The other had to be Zartan, Zarana realized.

"Zarana," the first Mainframe said calmly, "it's me. It's Blaine."

"No, he's a fake," the other Mainframe said. "I'm Blaine. Don't listen to him, Zarana. Shoot him now."

Zarana stood there for a second, paralyzed. She had to act and had little time to do it. If she failed to intervene, both Mainframes would end up on the floor, and she had to stop it. She had to stop it by shooting the fake Mainframe.

I need to quiz them. Find something that only Blaine would know. Zarana searched her mind but in the heat of the moment, felt herself struggling to come up with something. I need to be sure. What if I ask something that isn't specific enough? How can I know? I need to be sure—this is torture--

"I believe in you," the first Mainframe said.

Those were the last words Mainframe had spoken to her, last time they had seen each other. Without any further hesitation, Zarana shifted her aim abruptly and fired on the other Mainframe, putting two bullets in his chest.

The second Mainframe slumped to the floor, and his features dissolved into those of Zartan.


	35. The Sniper Duel

There was hardly any time to think about what she'd done. There was no time to be shocked over her act, or to wish she could have found another way, one that involved somehow not shooting her own brother. All Zarana could do was slip the gun under her belt and kneel in front of her brother, who lay slumped against the wall, blood seeping from the wounds on his chest and dripping down one side of his mouth, gasping for air.

The red emergency lights lent an eerie glow to the scene, which remained one of utter chaos. Elsewhere, further down the corridor and to the left, came the sounds of gun fire and the screams of dying men. The Vipers who ran past Zarana, Mainframe, and Zartan largely ignored them, so focused were they on the immediate threat of Flint and Lady Jaye.

"So, Sister," Zartan gasped, blood flowing out of his chest with each breath, "this is how it ends. Can't believe you shot me. Never thought you'd do it. Never thought you had the nerve."

"Zartan, forgive me."

Zarana knelt forward and touched her brother's forehead against her own. All at once the memories came flooding back. Memories of growing up together in Australia, fighting together, riding together on the open highways, conquering the world together. It was all she could do to stop herself from losing herself in these memories, at a time like this. They were enemies now, but still she felt the invisible bond that held them together. How else to explain all the times they had run into one another since she had left Cobra? It was an unspoken vow, an unresolved story that had finally come to its ending. Zarana waited for what seemed an eternity for her brother's response, but all he did was chuckle feebly.

"Forgive? You've gotten soft."

Zarana smiled.

"I guess I have."

"You were always such a hardass bitch. Never thought you would be like this."

More coughing.

"I guess... I was wrong... about you..."

With one last grimace, Zartan breathed his last. He stared at Zarana lifelessly.

Zarana closed his eyes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodbye," she whispered.

At that moment, Daina appeared from around the corner. She had been searching for Zarana after overpowering Low-Light and breaking out of her cell. On the way, she had managed to arm herself with a rifle, a pistol, and some smoke and frag grenades.

"Hey!" Daina said, and put up her hands when Zarana and Mainframe both whirled on her with their handguns ready to shoot.

"Don't shoot, it's me, Daina, from the Oktober Guard. We have to get out of here!"

Flint's voice came in over Mainframe's headset.

"Mainframe, do you have Zarana?"

"Yeah, I've got her."

"We're pinned down here. It's time to fall back and get out. You better move your ass. You copy?"

"Roger that."

Two Vipers appeared behind Daina with their guns ready.

"You there," the Viper said, "halt!"

Without looking, Daina pulled her pistol and fired twice over her shoulder, dropping both Vipers.

Zarana and Mainframe both looked at Daina, aghast.

"Holy cow," Mainframe said. "You see that no-look shot?"

"Pretty freaking awesome," Zarana said.

Daina flashed a lopsided grin.

"Quit staring, and move it! There's too much action going on at the front entrance, so we need to go out by the back," she said.

With that, Daina and Mainframe lifted Zarana on her feet and, supporting her on either side, made their way to the back exit.

Through the maze of the police headquarters, the trio of Mainframe, Zarana, and Daina hastily made their way toward the outside, shooting down the few Vipers they came across on the way. On the way, Daina stopped to throw a grenade inside one room and light a fire in several others. By the time, the three reached the exit and turned around to take one last look, the once imposing police headquarters was a smoking, burning mess. Vipers attempting to leave the building after them were quickly gunned down by Mainframe and Daina.

The night was thick with falling snow, and the white streets were eerily deserted as Mainframe, Zarana, and Daina put distance between themselves and the Cobra police headquarters. It was past curfew, of course, as the time was almost midnight. Daina led her two companions down a winding, meandering course in a general southwestern direction, down the main streets and smaller alleyways.

It was on one such empty, narrow alley lined with overturned trash cans and burned out cars, that a single shot broke the silence, and a split second later, Zarana back fell between Mainframe and Daina, shot through her good leg from the front.

"Cripes!" Zarana cried, clutching her leg. Mainframe and Daina reflexively dove toward opposite sides, seeking cover. Mainframe behind a dumpster, and Daina behind a parked car.

As Zarana lay prostrate on the blood-stained snow, she turned her head to the side and made eye contact with Mainframe, who motioned for her to be still and quiet.

The silence that followed was prolonged and agonizing. In Daina's mind, there could be only one sniper who could have followed them this far, set this trap for them, and then shown this kind of discipline. He was refraining from shooting again to avoid giving away his position, but at the same time, he was just waiting for Mainframe and Daina to go back out there and get Zarana out of harm's way.

He sure recovered fast from that pistol whip I gave him to the face, Daina marveled.

Then, a second question: was it a mistake not to kill him when I had the chance?

Something had told her not to kill him. Maybe it was the fact that he was a G.I. JOE, or that she wasn't convinced he was Cobra through and through, or maybe she was fascinated by him, in spite of her refusal to admit it.

No one moved for a full five minutes. Daina stared at her own breath in the frigid winter air, trying to come up with a plan.

Where is the sniper. Where is that bastard Low-Light?

Without rising from her cover, Daina looked around them. The alley was lined with dark apartment buildings about three or four stories high. She didn't think that in the short amount of time that had passed since their last encounter, Low-Light would have been able to get up, track them to this spot, and get into position in one of those buildings quickly enough to be able to snipe at them.

No, he's not up there. He's on street level somewhere. Somewhere in front of us. Not sure how far. The alley goes for another thirty yards. How am I going to find him without giving up my cover, especially in all this snow? If only I had a mirror–

Daina stopped and realized that she was right next to a mirror. The car she was hiding behind for cover was parked at a slightly oblique angle to the curb, and she was flush against the driver's door. The side mirror was practically above her head. Daina, careful not to make any loud noises that would alert her nemesis to what she was doing, took out her knife and carefully worked the mirror out of the car's side mirror housing. Flat on her stomach in the snow, Daina took the mirror in her hand and slowly used it to check out what lay ahead of them.

If I were in his position, where would be the best spot, Daina wondered as she pored her eyes over the mirror. The heavy snow made visualization difficult. The shot had come from right in front of them. Not very far away, either. Maybe fifty yards out. But where? There was a trash can up ahead, at the end of the block, by a traffic signal. Perhaps he was there. But where could he possibly hide and maintain sniping position, at street level?

Daina almost didn't see it. A small, barely noticeable mound of snow. In this six inch snow fall, it would have been easy to dismiss. But there it was, just under fifty yards away, past the end of the block. She could just make out the barrel of a rifle, and the hint of a telescopic lens. Everything else was completely covered. He was perfectly camouflaged, just waiting there, lying prone under all that snow. Was he using some kind of blanket to prevent himself from getting soaked and freezing?

Daina memorized Low-Light's location and put the mirror down. She finally looked across the street at Mainframe and communicated to him with hand motions.

Taking out her smoke grenade, she let him know that she was going to throw the grenade. Using that grenade for cover, Mainframe was to grab Zarana out of the line of fire. Then she, Daina, would take care of the rest. Mainframe nodded in understanding.

Daina threw the grenade high over her shoulder, over the car, past Zarana, and it landed in the snow. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then a loud explosion and a cloud of smoke obfuscated the entire street. Mainframe made the dash of the precious few feet that separated him and Zarana, and he pulled her by the armpits to safety while Daina, using the smoke for cover, took off running with her rifle down the sidewalk. She dove forward onto the street, landing on her belly, rifle raised to fire.

I know it won't be perfect, but please let it be close enough!

Low-Light had spotted her and had moved his rifle to bear on her as well. From a distance of thirty yards, both snipers fired at the same time.

Low-Light's bullet grazed Daina's left shoulder, but Daina's shot was closer to the mark. Her bullet had destroyed Low-Light's sighting scope and left a huge gash on the right side of his head. Only a last second turn by Low-Light after his shot had prevented the bullet from penetrating his goggles and going straight through his eye, into his brain. With a yell, Low-Light pulled his pistol and jumped forward out of his thermal blankets and camouflaging pile of snow, and he charged Daina, who had also discarded her rifle and pulled her pistol as well.

Daina fired once, and Low-Light's pistol went flying, landing in the snow ten yards behind him. He looked dumbly at Daina, as if to say, who the hell are you?

"I win again," Daina said with a smile.

"What are you going to do now, shoot me?" Low-Light said with a smirk. "You couldn't kill me before. What's different now?"

"You're right, I couldn't kill you," Daina said. "I'm not trying to kill you. I'm trying to save you."

"That again. You still don't understand, don't you?"

"It's you who doesn't understand, Low-Light. It's you who's forgotten. Don't you remember the brothers and sisters who fought along your side against Cobra, who died right before your eyes?"

_Take the shot!_

_We do not have a shot, Flint. I repeat, we do not have a shot!_

_What are we going to do? We can't take another frontal attack like this._

_You just haul ass, soldier. _

He was being thrown out of a high place, a rampart of the Cobra fortress. He was being thrown out so he could escape. Who was the one who said those words to him? His name... his name was Beach Head. Now, Low-Light could see the explosion lighting up the rampart, where he had been with Beach Head only moments before, as he climbed down the walls to the ground below.

Mainframe, carrying Zarana in his arms, approached the pair. Daina remained standing in front of Low-Light, holding a pistol to his head.

"You were G.I. JOE," Zarana said. "But Cobra killed you and cloned you. They created you to become one of them. I was there, Low-Light. I was there on the day you died."

"I... I died?" Low-Light said, a note of uncertainty in his voice.

An image flashed into his head. He was weak and drowsy, sitting in the back seat of a car being driven by Zarana and Mainframe. They were weaving through the streets like maniacs. They were being pursued... by Zartan. Then, a swerve, a crash–

Low-Light held his hand to the gash on the side of his head.

"I died," he said.

He was with a man they called Cobra Commander. The Commander was leading him on a tour of the Washington, DC fortress, newly reconstructed after the last battle with the surviving Joes. Every where he looked, he saw lines of Vipers and Cobra troopers saluting them, and pristine Cobra tanks and choppers, awaiting transport across the sea.

_I have a special mission for you, Low-Light. There are some rebels in Europe right now who are trying to destroy this precious new world order we have created. If we could only destroy the rebel leader Flint and his band of ruffians, our ideal nation would be realized at last. You understand, don't you, Low-Light?_

_Yes, I must destroy Flint and the Joes._

A young woman was brought in by a pair of Vipers. One of the Vipers said that the woman had attacked one of their officers, and was to be tried and executed for sedition. Cobra Commander nodded to Low-Light.

_Kill her now._

Low-Light aimed his handgun at the woman's face. She was a young woman, about his age, with brown hair. Very pretty. It was a pity he would have to put a bullet into her face. Low-Light fired a round into her face, at point blank range. The woman's head jerked back, and she fell limp to the floor.

Low-Light, back in the present, clutched his head with both of his hands and slumped to the snow.

"How can this be," he said, bewildered. "How?"

When Low-Light looked up again, he saw Daina reaching toward him with an outstretched hand. Her gun was at her side. There was kindness in her eyes. Come with me, her eyes said. Come with me, and we'll help you remember who you are.

Why? Low-Light wondered. Why are you doing this?

He took her outstretched hand, and Daina helped him up. Together, the four headed to the hotel where they would meet with Flint and Lady Jaye.

"So let me get this straight," Flint said as he stared at Low-Light from across the room.

Flint, Lady Jaye, Daina, Mainframe, Zarana, and Low-Light were together in the hotel room, going over their strategy for the next attack, to being tomorrow.

"This is not really Low-Light, but a clone that Cobra created to attack us? What the hell is he doing here?"

"Something went wrong with the cloning process," Daina said. "Low-Light wasn't supposed to remember what happened to him before he was cloned. But he remembers. If he remembers, then that means part of him is still G.I. JOE."

"So you're asking me to trust this–this thing?"

Flint stared at Low-Light again and shot him the dirtiest look possible. Low-Light stared back, unflinching.

"There's something about him," Daina said.

"Yeah, something about him creeps me out," Flint said.

"Enough arguing, people," Lady Jaye said as she laid a map of the city on the table.

"Now, if what Daina tells us is true, there is an underground network of Russian citizens waiting to move on our lead. Two hundred Russians are armed and ready. Cobra's major supply line to the easternmost portion of their advance into Russia runs through this city. Cobra's distracted now. There's a civil war going on in North America. We crush Cobra's supply lines here in a surprise attack at nightfall tomorrow."

Lady Jaye pointed to a section of the city near the coast.

"We crush Cobra's supply lines, the entire eastern front collapses. We'll have Cobra on the run all the way to the Atlantic."

"Sounds like a good plan," Mainframe grinned.

"Since both of your legs are shot," Flint said to Zarana, "you hang back with Daina and cover the main force with sniper fire."

"Low-Light, are you going to fight on our side?" Daina asked gently.

There was a long pause of silence.

"I'll do it," Low-Light said at last.

"Fine," Flint said sharply, then pointed at Daina. "But he's going to be _your _responsibility. He does anything out of line, you kill him right away."

Later that night, when everyone had gone to bed, Flint joined Lady Jaye in their bed.

"Come here," Lady Jaye whispered, letting Flint know that she was naked beneath her bed covers.

Smiling, Flint got undressed and joined his wife in bed. She still had the power to turn him on with nothing so much as a look or a smile, even after all this time. They made love as they had so many times over the years, with Flint moving in and out of Lady Jaye rhythmically and calmly, until his movements became less focused and he thrust inside of her several times before finally achieving climax. Once their lovemaking had been a secret thing, a forbidden fruit that they had enjoyed tasting in spite the fact that they knew better. Once they had delighted in exploring each other's bodies, pleasuring each other in new ways. They were married now, and the erotic thrill of exploring uncharted sexual territory seemed to have faded after so many times in bed. But always, even now that they were married and there was no need to hide their sexual feelings for one another, there was a peace that Flint found in his wife's arms. The thrill of having intercourse with her was something that would fade, but the peace that came with being close to her like this was something lasting and permanent. Making love to her was like coming home, home to the one woman he was intimate with, emotionally, spiritually, physically, sexually. And he knew in this intimacy, there was nothing he could hide. He was transparent before her. He'd always known that.

"You're worried," Lady Jaye said. "Worried about tomorrow."

"Yes, Ally."

The two of them lay side by side in bed, their sweaty hands clasped together tightly, as they looked into one another's eyes.

"It's Low-Light. But it's not really him you're thinking about. It's Dusty, isn't it?"

"Dusty betrayed us, and he wasn't a clone controlled by Cobra. I don't know what Daina was thinking when she brought him back to us. People who are dead should stay dead."

"Daina's a smart, strong woman. We have to trust her to do the right thing," Lady Jaye reassured her beloved.

With that, she and Flint kissed one last time, before going to sleep.


	36. Turning Point

A light snow fell as the drumbeats of war marched through the city's main avenue. Cobra soldiers dressed in thick winter garb marched onward through the bitter cold, their fog of their breaths coming through their reflective masks. With them rode the Cobra HISS tanks and STUN vehicles, while FANG choppers cruised overhead, ready to swoop down at the first sign of trouble.

From a window on the top level of the Kazan Cathedral overlooking the Nevsky Prospect, where a large column of Cobra troops and vehicles rumbled past, Zarana sat crouched with Daina and Low-Light. Zarana looked through a pair of binoculars and watched the column march on. Nevsky Prospect, the main avenue of St. Petersburg, was the road through which Cobra marched through as troops made their way to the transports at the eastern edge of the city that would take them to the eastern front, where the fighting was still going on, just past the Ural Mountains. Nevsky Prospect was also the road through which Cobra made periodic military parades, to remind the citizens of the occupier's power. A half century ago, the Nazis had done the same thing on the Champs-Elysee when they occupied France.

It would all change soon, Zarana pondered, as her binoculars traversed the other end of the street, where, she knew, Mainframe and the others would begin the surprise ambush.

Daina sat next to Low-Light, their backs to the street, their heads below the the facade walls. At a moment's notice, they would get into sniping position, but for now, they enjoyed a brief respite before the fighting.

She looked at Low-Light, who sat polishing his telescopic sniper scope. She wondered what thoughts ran through his head. Ever since she had met him in that hostile, lonely interrogation room, she had been struck by his coldness and detachment. Something caused him an anguish, a heartache that went deeper than his memories of dying and being cloned by Cobra. The night before, the two of them had gone to the roof after the meeting in which Flint had instructed Daina to kill Low-Light if he showed any sign of aberrant behavior. It was just the two of them, gazing at the stars from the top of the old apartment building.

_"Aren't you going to say something?"_

_"What do you want me to talk about?"_

_"Tell me about yourself. Where you're from."_

_"I'm a clone. I don't remember a thing."_

_"What about where you're from? Your mother? Your father? Don't you remember them?"_

_And then, suddenly, Low-Light was remembering the haunting echo of a long-dead past. Trembling, a ten-year old Cooper MacBride stood over the fallen deer. He was out in the North Dakota woods hunting with his father, and he had shot and mortally wounded an adult deer. Now, the falling rays of sunlight descended over the forest, signaling dusk. Cooper hesitated as he lifted his eyes to the canopy of leaves above him. The weak sunlight that filtered through the twilight sky weakened with every passing minute. Soon darkness would fall. _

"What you waiting for, boy? Shoot him!"

Cooper's father yelled at his son as he deliberately strolled through the woods toward where Cooper stood.

Cooper hesitated as he loaded his hunting rifle and took aim. He lined the deer's head in his sights.

The deer's eyes met his own. The deer blinked at him. Its eyes glistened with moisture. Cooper felt himself beginning to feel sorry for the deer. He'd never killed a living thing before. Growing up and going out hunting with his father, he'd always found an element of excitement and adventure in the act of stalking and shooting game. It was a challenge, a game of skill. Hold the rifle in the correct position. Line up the target in your sights. Adjust for distance, and wind. Fire. One shot. One shot was all it took.

"What's the matter with you boy? You afraid of killing?"

Cooper's father stood next to him with a disdainful expression on his face.

Cooper's father slapped him on the head.

"Go ahead and finish it. You afraid of a little death?"

"No, I'm not afraid-"

"Shut up and pull the trigger! One shot is all it takes."

Cooper stared down the barrel of his rifle. His hands trembled, and he hesitated.

"Do it!" Cooper's father shouted, breaking the serenity of the quiet forest.

Cooper didn't want to kill the deer. Up close, it looked so sweet and innocent.

"Do it!"

There can be no doubt, Cooper thought to himself. There can be no second thoughts. Just pull the trigger and go home. Cooper clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the rifle. He put a bullet into the deer's head. The deer shook violently for a second and was still.

From both sides of the street, over a length of an entire city block, multiple bombs exploded, sending debris and fire into the middle of of the Cobra column. The whole street was covered in a cloud of smoke. And then, the battle cry that had not been heard for many months, a battle cry that rang through the screams and confused shouts of the Cobra troops, instilling in their hearts a sense of shock and dread.

"YO JOE!"

On the ground, Flint led Lady Jaye, Mainframe, and a dozen other Russian resistance fighters into action, driving a wedge through the divided Cobra column, firing and throwing grenades into the smoke, taking the confused enemy by surprise. The forward section of the Cobra column turned to face the threat on the ground, but at that moment, dozens of Russian fighters emerged from their hiding spots in the windows of the buildings along the Nevsky Prospect and hurled Molotov cocktails at the terrified Cobra troops and onto the HISS and STUN vehicles. The air above the street was instantly a rain of flaming bottles of vodka, exploding and burning countless Cobras alive.

From the mid-section of the embattled street, Low-Light, Daina, and Zarana supported Flint's force with sniper fire. As the smoke cleared, some of the HISS tanks turned on the buildings and fired back at the Russians who had thrown down Molotov cocktails, sending several of the buildings along the street into flames and crumbling piles of twisted concrete and blood.

Like a madman, Flint raced through the street, blasting one Viper after another as he charged through the exposed line of Cobra ranks. He couldn't help but think back to a similar situation, when he and his fellow Joes had faced annihilation at the hands of Dusty and the Cobras. Back then, it had been a massacre. He remembered getting shot in the chest and watching his friends fall, one by one, wanting to save them but powerless even to scream in anguish. He had stared up at the barrel of Dusty's gun as Dusty and Carol had stood over him, ready to finish him. Dusty had spared him that day. He'd always wondered why. And then, years later, he understood. He'd finally understood Dusty's guilt, his pain, his turmoil. Flint's bloodlust knew no bounds at this moment. He was exacting revenge for all the brave friends he'd seen mercilessly killed at the hands of Cobra in the initial moments of their triumph, and then the devastating dagger in his heart when they'd lost even more Joes at the last attack on Washington, DC and the failed assassination of Cobra Commander. Lady Jaye and Mainframe were right behind him, helping clear the way for him. The remainder of the 200 Russian resistance fighters likewise had charged onto the street. The battle was quickly degenerating into a melee of close range fire and hand to hand combat.

In the midst of the fighting, Buzzer led his fellow Dreadnoks Ripper and Torch on their motorcycles, stopping to hack and slash the enemy Russians with his chainsaw. With Zartan gone, he, Buzzer, had become the leader of the Cobra force in Saint Petersburg. It was not a role to which he was accustomed, but in his ascension to the top, he found himself enjoying the newfound power. Buzzer rode between the fighting soldiers, hollering orders and attacking the Russians, all while ignoring the pain in his groin, where Zarana had stabbed him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two Vipers next to him fall after what sounded like shots from high powered rifles. At once, his head turned, and he saw ahead, and to the left, the Kazan cathedral, and a small group of snipers, firing at will on the crowd. In a flash, he knew he was staring back at the hated Zarana, through the sniper sight of the traitor's rifle.

Immediately, Buzzer made a sharp turn on his motorcycle, pulled his pistol from where it lay tucked in his waistband, and emptied an entire clip of ammo in the direction of the snipers, forcing them to take cover.

"Snipers in the cathedral at 10 o' clock!" he hollered at the platoon of Vipers to his left and forward. "Take them out now!"

Two Vipers aimed bazookas at the snipers' position and fired.

Inside the cathedral, Daina saw the rockets coming and shouted for the others to take cover. A deafening explosion followed, and then there was the sound of crumbling stone and a shower of debris and shrapnel hitting the floor. When Daina came to, she found herself covered by Low-Light, as if the Joe sniper was shielding her. He got up as if nothing had happened, peered down from the blown out section of the wall where the rockets had struck, and saw a squad of Vipers racing down to the cathedral, breaking away from the rest of the crowd.

"They're coming for us," Low-Light whispered.

He was calm in the midst of chaos. He was a man without fear. How was that possible? Wasn't he afraid of anything? Who was Low-Light?

Daina turned her head as she lay on the floor and saw the unconscious face of Zarana, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, her rifle knocked loose from her hands. Bricks and broken shards of glass lay all around them, covering and surrounding them. With a grunt of pain, Low-Light moved himself to his hands and knees and crawled away from the outer window to the interior of the cathedral. They were positioned along the upper balcony of the cathedral, and a long staircase led upward from the ground level of the mid-section of the church. The balcony extended all around the upper level of the cathedral, guarded by iron railings from a height of two stories. The dim winter light lent the interior of the cathedral a weak, pale glow filtered through the myriad stain glass windows. Low-Light lay on his stomach, his rifle aimed through the spaces between the balcony guard rails. He waited in silence, unmoving.

Daina felt her head growing faint again. It throbbed with pain from something hard that had hit her during the explosion from the rockets, as it had Zarana, and she felt her sense of presence fading into a dark abyss.

"Low-Light," she whispered, as she faded into sleep.

_I'm counting on you_, she voiced in her mind.

_"I'm counting on you," a young Cooper MacBride said to his hunting rifle. "You and me, we'll get through this together."_

_He was lost, all alone in the dark woods. Where had his father gone off to? Had he gone and left him alone on purpose? Cooper couldn't imagine why he would have done something like that, even a man like his domineering, stern father. He was alone, in pitch black darkness, sitting on a large stone in a clearing, listening to the sounds of the night. The chatter of the crickets, the rustling of leaves, the hooting of the owls. The spine tingling howl of the distant wolf. Above him, the faint light of the moon revealed to him the depth of his isolation in this unfamiliar forest, before being covered again by the thick clouds. _

_Everything was still for a moment._

_And then it came to him._

_A faint rustle of leaves on the ground, the sound of an animal prowling the grounds, coming nearer and nearer to him. _

_Cooper's ears pricked at the sound, and the hairs stood up all over his skin. Blood rushed to his head, he felt the rush of adrenaline. Something was approaching him, possibly hostile. Perhaps it was a wolf or a bear or a boar. There was no limit to the monsters he conjured in his imagination at that instant. He sat on the stone, deathly still, and brought his rifle to the ready. _

_"Can't see a thing," he murmured._

_The rustling noise grew louder, more urgent. Cooper's breath quickened and his finger tensed on the trigger. It was a wolf, maybe more than one, coming to attack him. He couldn't see his enemy. It was realization of his worst nightmare. All his life he'd feared the dark, feared being alone in the darkness. He used to feel the most intense desolation at the moment when his mother kissed him good night in their North Dakota home, because it meant she would turn out the bedside lamp and leave him alone to face the dark and the monsters that lurked in his room, and in the deepest recesses of his imagination. He couldn't see. And then, at the critical moment, when the beast had entered the clearing at full charge, racing to take him down, Cooper closed his eyes and felt his other senses taking over. He shifted the aim of his rifle and fired. It all ended in a flash, yet the moment stayed with him, and he remembered the way his body had adjusted to the darkness. Then at the moment when it was over, and he realized he was unscathed, with a dead wolf just ten feet in front of him, he opened his eyes to the sky and howled a cry of triumph. He'd conquered the darkness; he'd conquered his fear. He'd never be afraid again. _

Half a dozen Cobra Vipers entered the eerily silent cathedral, flashlights in one hand and pistols in the other. They spread out and proceeded to sweep through the ground level before moving to secure the balcony. When the first Viper went down with a shot in the head, the others turned at once to the sound from above them and opened fire, but Low-Light was already on the move. He found a new spot and lay still, watching the others move in the darkness. They were a bunch of scared boys, afraid of the dark. They depended on their flashlights. They relied to much on the light. He could have shot them in total darkness, but the light coming from their flashlights made it that much easier.

Low-Light smiled. He pulled out a couple of empty cartridges and tossed them fifteen yards down to his left, causing a loud clanking sound as the ammo cartridges hit the floor. The Vipers reacted at once to the sound, firing blindly on the location. They fired as they charged the staircases on either side of the cathedral, trying to find their way upstairs to face their adversary. While the Vipers unloaded entire clips of ammo on what they thought was Low-Light's position, the Joe sniper swiftly and methodically picked off another three with head shots before they even realized what had hit them. He stopped, and, keeping low, crawled on his hands and knees, getting into position for the final kill.

The remaining two Vipers reached the balcony and slowly made their way to the unconscious bodies of Daina and Zarana.

Low-Light, from the other end of the church, gazed through his sniper scope at the two Vipers, framed by the light coming in through the destroyed section of the wall near Daina and Zarana. The two Vipers were nervous.

They always are.

Their backs were turned to him for a moment, and he fired, taking down one. The other turned with his gun, saw him, and at the moment he was ready to fire, Low-Light took him out with a shot to the head, sending him staggering back, actually falling backwards, head first, out of the cathedral to the street below.

At that moment, in the midst of the chaotic hand to hand melee on the street, Buzzer, who was smashing someone's head in with the butt of his chainsaw handle, paused and turned on his motorcycle and saw the Viper fall a height of fifty feet from the top of the Kazan Cathedral, and he realized what had happened. The snipers were still alive in there. Most likely, _she_ was still alive in there. He remembered the glorious feeling he'd had, sucking on her nipples and fingering her vagina, back in that interrogation room; it made his cock stiffen and throb just thinking about it; it made him want to plunge into her wet core and make her scream his name. But that feeling of lust was subsumed by another feeling, one of overwhelming hatred. After all, she'd slammed his head onto the floor and then stabbed him in the groin.

_You wait, Zarana. I'll pay you back for what you did to me. _

But the situation was deteriorating out on the Nevsky Prospect. The Cobra forces were divided, the heavy armored vehicles had been taken out by insurgents' rockets, and it was impossible to think of a strategy with everyone out in the open like this, duking it out man to man.

_He would have figured a way out of this mess._

He, of course, was Zartan. Zartan had always been the smart one. That's why he was their leader, of course. Zartan would have thought of some trick, something dirty, to turn the battle around. But he, Buzzer, was not Zartan. He was out of his element now. After so many easy victories by Cobra, he'd forgotten what it felt like to taste defeat. He'd forgotten that he _could_ lose.

"What do we do, boss?" Torch said as he pulled up to Buzzer on his motorcycle.

"We turn back," Buzzer said with a dry croak. "Tell everyone to pull back."

When Daina awoke, Zarana and Low-Light were crouched over her, their eyes filled with concern. Outside, the air was filled with the sounds of celebratory gunfire and the cheers of the Russian fighters on the streets.

"What happened?"

"We beat them," Zarana said, "we sent them packing. We broke their lines."

"It's not over."

"No," Low-Light said. He looked down at the scene below them, and amongst the crowd, his sharp eye spotted Flint embracing Lady Jaye. Mainframe was with them. He turned in the direction of the cathedral, and Low-Light flashed a thumbs up sign to let him know everything was all right.

"It's going to be a war from here on," Low-Light observed. "We'll attack them at every opportunity and we won't stop until we've chased them out of Europe."

Zarana left the cathedral to join Mainframe down below, and for a while, Daina and Low-Light watched the celebration in the streets below in silence.

"I knew you could do it," Daina said at last. "I knew I could rely on you."

"Why?" Low-Light said, turning to the Russian sniper. "Why do you trust me?"

"You and I are the same," Daina said, smiling. "We've both been through the same pain."

Half a world away, Shipwreck and Cover Girl sat at a table with a woman named Margaret, having just finished relating their tale of what had happened to Mara the Mermaid. Margaret, of course, was Mara's sister in San Francisco, who had helped Shipwreck after he'd fallen off the Golden Gate Bridge, so long ago. Margaret's hand trembled as she took her cup of tea.

"So that's how it happened," Margaret said.

All this time, all these years, she had lived not knowing what had happened to her dear sister, and not knowing was an immense torment to her. Mara had suffered much, but she had found peace at last, dying in Shipwreck's arms. And the knowledge of what had happened lifted a tremendous burden from the heart of Mara's sister. How many years had she walked the beaches of their home town, wondering if she would ever get to see her by an accident of good fortune?

"I just wish I could have seen her one last time," Margaret said wistfully. "I wish I could have told her how much I loved her."

"She knows," Shipwreck said softly.

"Thank you so much for all that the two of you did for her," Margaret said warmly taking their hands as they rose to leave.

"When you defeat Cobra at last and end this madness, come back sometime and visit me," she said.

"We will," Cover Girl promised.

When they left the house, neither of them said a word. Shipwreck had insisted on coming to San Francisco from Hawaii, on their way back east. It was in San Francisco that they had been separated, with Shipwreck falling off the Golden Gate Bridge during a Rattler attack. There were so many memories here, so many painful memories. But now that they were together and loved one another, they could make new memories together, happier ones. They'd promised to stick together no matter what, no matter what obstacles came between them, no matter what Cobra did to bring them down. Word on the street was a civil war had erupted on the east coast. Most of the country remained loyal to Cobra Commander, but a vociferous faction on the east coast had declared their loyalty to Destro. Now an insane civil war raged, and the surviving Joes were right there, mixed up in the middle of it. Shipwreck intended to find those Joes, find them and rejoin them. They would become a team again, a family again, a family with a common dream of coming back to retake the world which they had lost but whichnow appeared ready for the taking.


	37. The Belly of the Beast

Within the air ducts and the narrow passages of the Washington, DC, fortress, a figure moved silently in the darkness, skillfully evading Destro's sophisticated intruder detection systems. All the invisible lasers, the motion sensors, the strategically placed cameras–they were nothing to a man like Storm Shadow, who speedily passed through each protective layer of security, unbeknownst to Destro and his army.

In the control room, Destro stood with the rest of his senior staff, reviewing the video recording of the first major battle of the Cobra civil war. That battle had been brought on by the machinations of the Baroness, although neither side had realized it yet. Both sides had lined up against each other, each side bearing columns of HISS tanks and Cobra troops, and both sides had charged each other madly, as if reenacting a battle from the nineteenth century. Both sides of soldiers charged into each other, shooting and jabbing with bayonets, unleashing a torrent of blood. HISS tanks fired into each other, sending up massive explosions of metal shards and body parts.

As the Baroness watched the video for the first time on the large high definition video screen, she winced internally. After all, it had been her handiwork. It killed her soul a little each day, having to pretend to be part of Destro's plan for world conquest. She had, of course, publicly sided with Destro in the civil war. All the senior members of Cobra, those who had not been killed in the last open battle with G.I. JOE–they'd all been forced to choose sides between Cobra Commander and Destro. Storm Shadow, Dr. Mindbender, Zartan, and the Dreadnoks had remained loyal to the Commander, while Firefly, Scrap Iron, and Wild Weasel had stayed with Destro. The time had come for the Baroness to make her choice.

_The battle lines are drawn, Anastasia. Cobra Commander is a fool if he thinks he can succeed without me. Stay with me and we'll rule Cobra together. We'll bring down that fool and put him in his place. We'll start over again, you and me._

She was no longer bound under personal threat of exposure to Cobra Commander as a traitor, but she felt the need to continue the act. If she failed to convince Cobra Commander and Destro that she was as much involved in Cobra as they were, they would have realized how they were being manipulated, and the civil war would have been averted. But she publicly sided with Destro, making it seem as if she had done it out of passion for him, convincing Cobra Commander, convincing Destro that she retained feelings for him, almost convincing even herself. Each day, she woke up and participated in Destro's campaign to take over from Cobra Commander many of the vital bases and experimental weapons they had once shared, debasing herself, spending time with the man she now hated, making love to him and feigning passion for him. She routinely invited Destro into her bed, screaming in pleasure as he pounded her, grinding her hips into his, mixing together their sweat and sex; and in doing so she gradually seduced him, making him believe that she had truly surrendered himself to him.

The Baroness watched, pained, as the battle came to an end. It had decided nothing, of course. It had only hardened the lines of battle, committed each side to a course of action from which neither could back down, not without a significant loss of face. This was what the Baroness had wanted, of course. She'd wanted Cobra divided, so that G.I. JOE could defeat them. Everything she had known before, as a Cobra agent, all the money and power, had been a lie. Steeler, the original Steeler, had shown her that–before he'd died. Her eyes had seen the truth.

An alarm sounded in the control room. Seconds away from entering the locked control room, Storm Shadow had been detected at last. The video monitor cut to a security camera image of Storm Shadow, dressed in his traditional white ninja garb, about to break into the control room with a stolen key card. The first thought that crossed the minds of everyone in the room was that Storm Shadow had come to perform an assassination mission. Firefly and the Baroness moved in front of Destro with their pistols raised.

The next few seconds passed in a strange blur, so quickly that neither the Baroness nor Firefly could even get off a shot. The door opened, and two ninja stars came through, killing two Vipers who stood guard at the door, and in the next instant, a flash of white, a somersault high through the air, and Storm Shadow had landed squarely on the other side of them all, behind Destro with one hand across his chest and the other with a knife poised to jab him through one of the eye holes of his metal mask.

"No one moves or he dies," Storm Shadow uttered in a low voice.

Firefly, the Baroness, and the other remaining Viper staff in the spacious control room turned to face Storm Shadow as he held Destro's life in his hands.

"Go ahead and do it," Destro said.

"I'm not here to kill you. I've come bearing greetings from Cobra Commander."

"Oh?" Destro said scornfully, not the least bit showing any signs of intimidation in his position. "How very amusing of him."

"Cobra Commander wishes to meet with you personally. New York City. Manhattan's Battery Park. He will meet you there in 72 hours. Come alone."

With those words, Storm Shadow withdrew his weapon and dashed out of the room, daring anyone to attempt to stop him. Within minutes there was no sign of him in the fortress. As quickly as he had entered, he was gone, a shadow in the night.

The Baroness excused herself from the control room. It was nearly 7:00 PM, and she was tired and hungry. She made her way down the winding corridors toward the quarters she shared with Destro, but at the last turn, checking behind her, she vanished down a side passage that led to one of the elevator lifts, which would take her to the basement and lead her outside. All paths in and out of the Cobra fortress led through the underground entrance, tightly guarded by security cameras and retinal scanners. The Baroness, donning a wig of red hair and dressed in the plain uniform of a Cobra trooper and a trench coat, passed through unnoticed. Outside, the streets of DC were cold and dimly lit. A light rain fell from the cloudy skies.

The Baroness stopped at a street corner two blocks away from the outer wall of the Cobra fortress, and looked down at her watch. Any minute now...

"Let's go, shall we?" a voice said, one that the Baroness knew well. She turned her face and met Steeler, standing next to her in the rain, holding an umbrella above them both.

The Baroness smiled. Even in this outfit, Steeler knew her. Every chance she got, she sent the secret signal from the Cobra base to let Steeler know that they would meet that night. It was all that kept her going--the thought that she would see her beloved again, and be with him again.

"I'm hungry," the Baroness said, her eyes conveying to Steeler the double meaning.

He smiled. "Me too."

Alone in the hotel room, Steeler and the Baroness had shed their rain coats and boots the moment they walked through the door. At once, Steeler's lips found those of the Baroness, and they kissed each other deeply as they made their way to the bed. Steeler began fumbling at the Baroness's uniform buttons, feeling like he could not get them both undressed quickly enough. He was already rock hard and felt like he was going to burst in his pants. They'd only made love just three days ago, and already, that felt like an eternity. The Baroness put a hand gently on Steeler's to stop him.

"Wait," she whispered.

The Baroness led a slightly bewildered Steeler to the wall next to the bed and put her back against it. She took one of Steeler's hands and placed it on her shoulder.

"Press me against the wall, like this," she said.

She was cornered against the wall, like she'd asked. The Baroness took Steeler's other hand, and placed it on her right breast. Her flesh burned with excitement as Steeler put his warm hand over her breast. At once, she was brought back to that first time, the first time Steeler had ever kissed her. That day, years ago, another man named Steeler had done the same thing to her. She had a gun, but he had disarmed her, and, pinning her to the wall, had kissed her and fondled her, and she had given in to him. At that moment, she knew that it was no longer a game. She had lost herself in desire.

"Kiss me," the Baroness pleaded.

They kissed hungrily, their mouths wrapping around each other's, their tongues invading and exploring each other's mouths. At the same time, Steeler's hand on the Baroness's breast began caressing and stroking her. His hand effortlessly kneaded her soft, sensitive flesh, snaking down to her erect nipple, pinching and rubbing as he went, and the Baroness felt all of this through the thin fabric of her uniform. Before long, Steeler's hand found it's way into her shirt, and he fondled her breast directly. Her chest heaved with desire, she felt her loins begin to ache for him.

She burned with lust for this man, and yet her heart bore the old ache of a wound that would never completely heal. The memory of the old Steeler, the man who she had once held captive as her enemy and the spy who had become her lover, lingered within her. She felt herself going back to that day when he had cornered her against the wall and kissed her, and it was a sweet memory, but she knew that such things would never be again, no matter how much this Steeler resembled the old one, no matter how hard she tried to make them one and the same person in her mind. The old Steeler, the man she had fallen for, was gone, burned down by a fire from the sky, and now a new Steeler had taken his place. It would never be the same. But as this man, this Steeler before her, entered her once again and held her tenderly in his arms on the bed of their desire, she had the thought, _it will never be the same. He's gone, never to return. But this man who holds me in his arms--he is a good man, so much like the man I loved, yet different. I'll share my life with him. _

All rational thought vanished in a blinding light as Steeler came within her and she felt the force of her own climax overwhelm her body...

The night passed by quietly as Steeler and the Baroness lay in each other's arms, naked beneath their covers, listening to the ambient sounds of the cars and people walking the streets below.

"How much longer will this go on?" Steeler said. "I worry about you every day."

"Soon, it will be over," the Baroness said as she stroked her lover's face. "I won't be able to stay in Cobra much longer. In a few days, Cobra Commander and Destro will be meeting personally. It's the first time they'll be meeting each other since the war began. Perhaps they'll find out that I'm the one who manipulated them into it. When that time comes, I'll be forced to leave. Then it will be time for us to make our move."

She meant, of course, that it would be time for Steeler, Grunt, Clutch, along with herself and Layla, to begin operations against Cobra. For the last few weeks, Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch had been quietly working in the city, biding their time, waiting for the other Joes--Shipwreck, Cover Girl, Flint, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, and Zarana--to return. In the time since Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch had come onto the scene, they had been receiving information from the Baroness and Layla. Layla, the aide to the Baroness, was absolutely loyal to her mistress. She would follow her anywhere. Neither of them had forgotten the promise they had made, in the aftermath of the attack on the Washington fortress and the death of the original Steeler, that they would one day leave Cobra together. The time had nearly come.

"Soon, my darling," the Baroness said, kissing Steeler, "soon it will all come to a head."

They were words spoken with hope and uncertainty, as the two lovers faced their future together.


	38. Flight of the Baroness

Nighttime in New York City's Battery Park. In the December chill, few citizens were interested in taking walks at night in the park located on the southern tip of Manhattan island, where, just a short distance across the way on New York Harbor, the Statue of the Baroness, which had replaced the once revered Statue of Liberty, stood proudly, with regal arrogance, as if reminding the hapless Americans of Cobra's domination. Destro, dressed in a long trench coat and scarf, stood on the edge of the park, leaning on the rail that faced the southwest, staring across the dark waters at the shadowy silhouette of the Statue of the Baroness, wondering when it had all gone wrong. There was once a time, in the distant past, when he and the Baroness were the picture of happiness. They used to steal moments of passion, kissing and making out while on missions together, when they felt they could take these moments away from Cobra Commander's prying eyes. When had it all changed? To Destro, it felt like everything had changed when he began orchestrating Cobra's successful campaign of world conquest. All the inventions, all the successes, all the conquests, all the power. How had he lost touch with the person who had been so important to him? He took her back when he killed Steeler after the ill-fated attack by the Joes on the Washington fortress, but even though he possessed her physically, he could not recapture her heart. Nothing in the world, not all the money and all the power, could buy back her love. Even now, while she made love to him with great vigor and passion, he sensed that she was distant. There was a barrier between them. Then the thought occurred to him for the first time: could it be that she had found a new lover? He felt somehow that he would find the answer, tonight, as he watched the new Cobra Mamba chopper carrying Cobra Commander descend onto a clearing in the middle of Battery Park. 

The two erstwhile allies, now sworn enemies, faced each other for the first time since the start of the Cobra Civil War. A cold wind whipped through the park, flicking at the edges of their long dark winter coats, while the tall Statue of the Baroness stood silently in the distance, dimly backlit by firefly lights of the New Jersey homes across the Hudson River.

"Destro, my dear friend," Cobra Commander said, his voice full of false charm, "this senseless war between us must be stopped."

Cobra Commander ventured to extend his hand, but Destro sneered at the phony gesture and turned his head to one side.

"Cobra Commander, you are a treacherous piece of scum. You owe all your success to me, yet at the moment of our triumph, you chose to take all the power and glory for yourself. That is intolerable."

"Destro, Destro," Cobra Commander chided, "how can you say such things? You wound me. Really. You raised an army against me in a jealous bid to take over the throne, behind my back. A most cowardly move, I must say. Why, the Baroness told me so herself."

"The Baroness?" Destro said, his voice showing a trace of surprise. This was a revelation. He recalled then, that the Baroness had told him that Cobra Commander was planning to destroy him.

For a time, the two adversaries stared each other down in the chilly night.

"That's correct. Your Baroness. You trust your woman too much. I think she has much more in her mind than she lets on. But all that is irrelevant now. Now it is between you and me. I brought you here not to negotiate but to demand your immediate surrender."

"My surrender?"

"You heard me. Surrender at once all your weapons, devices, inventions, and soldiers, and I may consider you for a cushy administrative post in the Cobra Empire. The alternative is your immediate death."

Then Destro sensed that they were not alone, that other eyes were watching them closely, watching their every move. Snipers had their sights straight on Destro's heart. He knew it. It was Cobra Commander's style to set up a trap that he, Destro, had foolishly walked into. Or so it seemed. He had anticipated such a scenario, and had had his agents plant smoke bombs all over the park prior to the appointed meeting. One word from him to the wire on his chest, hidden beneath his coat, was all it took.

"Fire," he said.

Pillars of smoke shot up everywhere in the park, instantly covering the whole area in an impenetrable fog. Destro charged forward, zeroing in on the Commander's voice, which was frantically screaming for his men to shoot, all while bullets whizzed past him, missing their mark and hitting the grass harmlessly. He reached out with his gloved fist and found Cobra Commander's neck in the darkness. The two tumbled to the ground, shouting and struggling, and ending with Destro pinning the Commander to the ground, strangling him with all his fury.

"You grossly underestimate me, my dear Cobra Commander. You think I am simple minded as you? Think I fell for your transparent double cross? This is the difference between you and me."

Destro said this as he continued squeezing the life out of the Commander, trying with all his might to snap his neck.

"You want an end to the war? You shall have it, at the cost of your worthless life."

A jet of concentrated acid erupted from a hidden duct in the Cobra Commander's mask at that moment, squirting Destro right on his steel mask. Destro howled in surprised and pain as he rolled off Cobra Commander and staggered away, his escape still being covered by the thick cloud of smoke. He quickly realized that he needed to lose the mask, and in a hurried panic, he pulled the mask off his head and threw the corroding head of steel to the side, where it continued to melt away.

He felt a hand grasp his arm as he blindly made his way to the Rattler, which lay at the southern edge of the park. It was Wild Weasel.

"My Lord Destro, come this way," he said, as the bullets continued flying through the air around them.

Wild Weasel and Destro boarded the Rattler, and within minutes, the plane was taking off using its vertical thrusters. They rose quickly to a short height above the park, and at Destro's order, Wild Weasel unloaded all of his missiles at the Mamba, sending it up in a giant explosion. There was no way to verify whether Cobra Commander had been anywhere near the blast. Destro considered it unlikely. In any case, it was time to leave, and return to their Washington, DC fortress. The encounter with Cobra Commander had been fairly useless, but he did learn a bit of the treachery of the Baroness, the woman who had falsely sworn loyalty to him. He grimaced in anger as he touched the superficial acid burns on his face. It was time to settle a few scores.

Deep in the bowels of the Washington, DC fortress, Destro maintained a lab where his technicians perfected some of his latest weapons devices. The lab technicians dressed in white coats, men and women who had been recruited from among the elite academic institutions around the nation, toiled tirelessly for the cause of Cobra. They had resigned themselves to the fact that Cobra had taken over, and they were being used to create weapons of destruction. As long as Cobra kept them well paid, the scientists and engineers kept their principles to themselves and did what they were told. The giant laboratory stretched many square feet and was filled wall to wall with prototypes for the latest devices. There was an assortment of large guns, cannons, and energy rays.

None of the scientists paid much heed to the Baroness as she walked into the room, unaccompanied. They were used to seeing her pop into the lab every now and then. The Baroness strode into the sterile room, knowing that she had little time. Destro, at this moment, was meeting with Cobra Commander, and learning of her betrayal. There was something in particular that she was looking for: the Matter Transmutation Device... a machine that could transform an object into anything in the world of equal mass. A device that, if used the right way, could even open gateways into other dimensions.

_"Listen," the Baroness told Layla shortly before she had undertaken to steal the Matter Transmutation Device, a bulky pistol that to all appearances seemed harmless enough, "I must act now. If we are to turn the tide of the war in our favor, I must steal this weapon. This could be the edge that we have been looking for. The time is ripe, my dear."_

_"You're really going to do it," Layla said at the time, hardly believing that they were embarking upon the fulfillment of the promise they had made together so long ago, the day Steeler had been killed on the Proving Grounds along with Grunt and Clutch._

_"We must end this war," the Baroness said. "We must act now."_

The Baroness found what she was looking for at the far end of the room. A bulky pistol with a large barrel and an ammunition chamber containing a glowing blue crystalline object from which the gun derived its energy. One of Destro's scientists stool over the pistol, welding one of the outer casing parts into place. The scientist, a man named Watson, looked over in her direction.

"May I see that, Dr. Watson?"

"Certainly," Watson said. He took hold of the gun and pointed it straight at the Baroness's face.

"It hasn't been tested yet, but you'll make a good first target, I'm told."

"What are you talking about?"

Watson, with his other hand, pulled a remote control out of his white coat and pressed a switch. A flat screen lining one of the walls lit up, and Destro's face appeared on the screen. It was his true face, without the mask, the Baroness realized. What happened to him? It looked like there were some burns on his face, and helooked very angry.

"What's the meaning of this?" the Baroness demanded.

"Do not play the fool with me, Anastasia. I have been played long enough. I know what your game is. You manipulated me into this civil war, and you continue to manipulate me into wasting my resources against Cobra Commander when the true enemy is right beside me, making love with another man on the side, a Joe, no less. The price of your treachery will be very high, my dear."

The Baroness considered her situation. She was surrounded by a half dozen men in white coats, all of them pointing guns at her, but the most important gun was the one right in front of her. But then she considered that few of these men possessed the training in hand to hand combat that she possessed. They were nothing but geeky scientists who spent all their time hunched over papers and computers, crunching numbers and punching their time cards. These men were soft, they were nothing. She smiled.

"I'm not as helpless as you might think, my darling Destro," she whispered.

With a rapid motion, she kicked the Matter Transmutation Device high into the air out of Watson's hands. With the device flying straight up into the air, all eyes went to the most valuable of all projects, tracing it through its slow arc of motion, and the men lost their focus on the woman in front of them. That was a fatal error. It was all the opening the Baroness needed. She drew handguns from each side and shot Watson, before turning to shoot the rest of the men dead at pointblank range, before dropping her guns to catch the falling Matter Transmutation Device before it hit the ground. The whole event had taken place in just a couple of seconds. When it was over, the Baroness was standing alone with the coveted weapon, surrounded by a circle of dying men and their spreading pools of blood. Only Destro, watching in anger and shock from afar, remained to see what the Baroness was doing. His facial features contorted into an expression of supreme fury.

"You won't make it out of the building, I'll see to that," he glowered.

"You think so?" the Baroness taunted. "Watch me."

She picked up one of her pistols and fired two shots into the viewscreen, destroying it, and wiping out Destro's image from the screen in a shower of sparks and fizzle.

When the Baroness ran out of the room, she was met by a squad of Vipers, who were quickly cut down in a hail of bullets from behind before the Baroness could even react. Layla and Grunt, both dressed in the garb of Cobra troopers and carrying assault rifles, came running to meet her.

"The whole base is on alert to shoot you on sight," Grunt said.

"How are we going to get out of here?" the Baroness said.

"Get to the air hangar. Steeler and Clutch will be there with choppers," Layla said.

"That is, if we can get to the choppers," the Baroness said, knowing that they would have to go up several levels and traverse at least 10 corridors before they could make their getaway.

They navigated their way through the Ziggurrat, the same impenetrable fortress that the Joes had once had to contend with on the day they had rescued Shipwreck and attempted to assassinate the Cobra leadership. Much had been repaired since that day, but Grunt had every intention of messing it all up again. In the lead, he stopped their party and peered around the corner to the left when they came to an intersection of corridors. A pair of Crimson Guards was coming their way and had set up sniping positions.

"They're gonna love this," he said as he pulled out a remote detonator and set off all the small bombs located in the ten corridors leading to the lift that would take them to the hangar. A series of explosions rocked the building, cutting through the sound of the red alert, and throwing their section of the fortress into darkness, lit only by the blaring lights of the fire alarms.

The trio made their way through the rubble and piles of dead and injured men, stopping on the way to shoot the few Vipers who remained in their way to attempt to appprehend them.

In the confusion, they easily made their way to the choppers, their path to freedom. The choppers were all located in a large air hangar, and no one was present but Steeler and Clutch, who had two FANG choppers ready to go.

Steeler came running to the Baroness and met her halfway, catching her up in an embrace and a fervent kiss. When their lips parted, the Baroness held up the weapon she had risked her life for and showed it proudly to him.

"We have them now," she said.

Steeler smiled.

"Let's go, let's get out of here!" Clutch shouted as he started his FANG, and Grunt ran up to Clutch's chopper and took up position on one of the landing beams.

Steeler, Layla, and the Baroness made their way to the other chopper, Steeler in the pilot's seat, and the Baroness and Layla taking up positions along the landing beams on each side.

At the moment of take off, a dozen Crimson Guards came storming into the hangar and began opening fire. Layla and Clutch returned fire, dropping two of the Guards. Clutch's chopper lifted off vertically through the opening in the ceiling and out of the range of the Cobra fire. Grunt's chopper followed suit. Just as the chopper was beginning to get off the ground, a bullet took the Baroness in the arm and she lost her grip, falling a height of ten feet to the ground. The Crimson Guards continued firing, charging forward to press their advantage.

"Anastasia!" Steeler cried down as the chopper continued to gain lift.

The Baroness waved him off furiously, as if to belay any thought in Steeler's mind of coming back down for her.

"Go! Leave me behind!"

She held the Matter Transmutation Device in her good hand. She still had this Trump Card; it was time to use it. She flicked the energy level to the highest setting and opened fire on the first Crimson Guardsman who came her way. In that instant, she was enveloped in a blinding light, and everything went blank.

When the Baroness regained consciousness, she found herself in an unexpected place: the front lawn of the White House. Around her were the ten unconscious Crimson Guardsmen she had zapped at the last moment.

"Where am I?" the Baroness whispered as she stood up, wincing in pain as she remembered her bullet wound in her left arm.

Before she knew it, she was surrounded by men in black suits, wearing black ties and dark glasses, with ear pieces. The Secret Service?

"Hold it right there, lady! Drop that gun!"

The men of the Secret Service all had their pistols trained right on her head. There was no choice but to comply.

Beyond the lawn, the Baroness could see the gates surrounding the White House, and the curious looks of tourists who were stopping to gawk at the spectacle. Some were even taking her picture.

Then she began to understand. She was no longer in her own world anymore. This spot, the White House, was the same spot over which the Cobra Ziggurrat had been built. There was no Proving Grounds, no slave labor camp, no Statue of the Baroness in New York. Everything was as it should have been, before the dark times, before Cobra. Was this it, then? Was this the world that Steeler, the second Steeler, had come from?

It was her only hope.


	39. Strange New World

Cobra Island

Destro watched the television news reports with great interest. On the television, he could see the image of the Baroness on the great lawn of the White House, surrounded by Secret Service agents.

"Strange woman is arrested after she suddenly appears out of nowhere in front of the White House, carrying a gun," the news reporter's voice proclaimed over the images.

"Anastasia," Destro called.

The Baroness, dressed in her sleeping robes, came over to her lover's side.

"What is it–" she began, before her jaw dropped open at the sight of her look-alike.

"Very interesting," Destro said as he looked at the still image of the captured Baroness and the strange looking device she bore in her hands, just before she was forced to drop it and put her hands up.

Washington, DC

Scarlett walked down the long corridor alone, dressed in a formal uniform, consisting of a beige business jacket, skirt, and high heels. She'd been called into FBI headquarters to interrogate this strange woman who claimed to be a former member of Cobra, now defected to the G.I. JOE side.

None of this makes any damn sense, Scarlett thought to herself. Since when did the Baroness defect to our side?

Scarlett was led by the guards into an empty interrogation room, where the Baroness sat quietly.

"So we meet again, Scarlett," the Baroness said.

"Who are you?"

"Anastasia DeCobray. Also known as the Baroness."

"How did you end up materializing in front of the White House?"

"It's a long story. You won't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"I came from another world. A parallel world."

Scarlett blinked dumbly. Then she smiled sarcastically.

"Pleeease. I wasn't born yesterday. What makes you think that?"

"The fact that you're alive."

"What?"

"You were killed, Scarlett. You were killed along with Snake Eyes when the Joes attacked the Cobra Fortress here."

"None of what you're saying makes sense."

"Of course not. I'm talking about the other you. The Scarlett from my world."

"What the hell kind of a world is that?"

"A world in which Cobra has won, Scarlett. Many of the Joes are killed. The few surviving Joes are trying to fight back and take back their world. A civil war now rages between the forces of Cobra Commander and those of Destro. It is the last opportunity for the Joes to step in and destroy Cobra once and for all."

Scarlett produced the Matter Transmutation Device and laid it on the table in front of her.

"Mind explaining what this is?"

"It's the Matter Transmutation Device. Destro invented it, the Destro in my world. It was designed to turn matter into anything of the user's choosing. It has the power to transform lead into gold. But there is another effect, one that was not intended. The power to open gateways to parallel worlds."

"Sounds interesting. What would happen if I fired it right here?"

"It might open the gateway back to my world. I was being chased by Destro's forces and used it out of desperation."

"What do you mean? Aren't you and Destro lovers?"

The Baroness scowled hatefully. "Never again," she said bitterly. "I would never go back to him. Not when I have Steeler. Steeler is the only man I love."

Scarlett's jaw dropped. "Steeler?"

"He's not here, isn't that right? Your Steeler crossed over into my world and stayed with me."

"Uh, no, Steeler's still here, same as always."

"What? It can't be."

"Steeler would not have a clue what you're talking about."

"But I was so sure! What about Lady Jaye and Flint? Didn't they come back and say that they'd left Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch behind?"

"Nope. Never happened."

The Baroness was stunned. She was so sure she'd come to the right place. But then there were millions of parallel worlds in existence. She'd just popped into one of them. What kind of world was this?

"Is Cobra still at war with G.I. JOE?"

"Yup."

"Is Cobra winning?"

"Nope."

"What is going on, then?"

"It's a stalemate, I'd say. We have Cobra in check, although we haven't managed to destroy them. We still need to capture Serpentor."

"Serpentor? Who the hell is Serpentor?"

Scarlett stared at the Baroness and studied her face.

"You really don't know. You really don't know who Serpentor is?"

The Baroness shook her head.

This is getting interesting, Scarlett thought.

G.I. JOE Headquarters

With the Baroness safely transferred to the Joe Headquarters brig, Scarlett could finally find a moment of rest. She entered her quarters and removed the jacket she had been wearing all day. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her and she closed her eyes. Duke, she whispered as the hands moved from her waist, up her torso, to her breasts, where they kneaded the soft, compliant, sensitive flesh, sending tendrils of exquisite pleasure through her being. She wanted him, once again. Wanted him more than anyone in the whole world, and regulations be damned. It was an open secret that she and Duke were having a sexual relationship. The quarters she kept on the base were always open to her lover, who slipped inside late at night to make love to her. Tonight was no different, as Scarlett and Duke tumbled onto her bed, naked, and as Duke buried his cock within her, she found the sexual release that tore through her and made her nearly cry in joy.

All was quiet now, and Scarlett laid her hand gently across her lover's chest, watching the rhythmic rise and fall of his breathing.

"Something's not quite right with the woman we took prisoner today."

"You mean, the Baroness?"

"I'm not sure she's the Baroness. It can't be. Nothing she says makes any sense."

"What did she say?"

"She said that where she came from, I was killed. I died with Snake Eyes. She says we had a relationship, Snake Eyes and I. That I accepted his love at last because all he had sacrificed for me."

"Sacrificed? Like what? What did Snake Eyes ever sacrifice for you?"

"His face, his voice, his everything."

"Doesn't sound like the Snake Eyes we know. I think we would have remembered something like Snake Eyes losing his face and his voice."

"What if it's true? What if there really is a parallel world where such things can be?"

Then it struck Scarlett that the idea of Snake Eyes making such bodily sacrifices on her behalf was deeply romantic. Why didn't she have that kind of bond with Duke? It seemed to her that they had grown so comfortable in their relationship as lovers. Snake Eyes was just another friend to her. There wasn't anything particularly special about him that made him stand out to her, except for his awesome skill at martial arts. His ability to fight hand to hand rivaled, even bested, her own. Yet even though they fought together as comrades and respected each other, there had never come a time when they had been able to establish any kind of relationship with one another. They were almost like strangers.

Somewhere, just outside the G.I. JOE base, a lone woman dressed in the green uniform of a Joe private strolled through the front gate, nodding to the sentry who casually glanced at her ID badge and waved her through. The woman smirked as she passed through. _It was always so easy_, she thought.

Elsewhere in the G.I. JOE base, the Baroness lay alone in her prison cell, the dark cell lit faintly by the dim bulb hanging from the center of the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. All she could think about was the jam she was in. Where was the Matter Transmutation Device? It was her only hope of returning to the world she knew.

There were footsteps outside of her cell, and she looked up. The Baroness felt something catch in her throat. It was Steeler, the Steeler from this world. For an instant she could almost see the man she had fallen in love with so long ago. There was a certain irony in the reversal of their positions. Once he had been a captive, and she had been the captor. The Baroness shook her head. No, this wasn't him. It was him, yet it wasn't him. All the turbulent times, the vicissitudes of love, came back to her in an instant. Falling in love with Steeler, then losing him, then regaining him, in a way. Now she had lost him again. _Why am I always finding you and losing you_, she thought to herself.

"Steeler," the Baroness said as she stepped to the cell bars. Steeler stepped back cautiously, his hand on the butt of his pistol.

"Whoa, back off, lady," he said. "I'm just here to do my guard duty shift."

"You don't know me, do you?" the Baroness said gently.

"Why are you talking like that? I heard something about you defecting to G.I. JOE, but that just doesn't make any goddamn sense."

"It's true. I did it for you, Steeler." The Baroness knew that she was speaking in a way that this man could not understand. She imagined anyway that she was speaking to the Steeler she had once known, the Steeler who had died in a brilliant flash of fire from the sky that day on the Proving Grounds.

"I loved you," she whispered, and tears came to her eyes.

Steeler stood there, taken aback. He didn't know how to respond. The Baroness showing feelings for him? Since when had they ever had a relationship? Since when had she ever acknowledged his existence? He recalled thinking that she was attractive, but unattainable. Suddenly the Baroness seemed so very near, so very accessible, so very attainable.

"We never had a relationship," Steeler said.

"You and I never did. But I come from another world, where there was another one, just like you. They called him Steeler. We were lovers."

Steeler looked at her askance.

"Tell me something, though. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to make love to me? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the lover of the Baroness? To feel your naked flesh against hers? To hold her, taste her, come inside of her?"

Steeler hesitated as he stared at her in silence from across the bars of the prison cell. He couldn't help but notice the Baroness's lovely face: her eyes, her perfect nose, those luscious lips, her smooth pearly skin. He couldn't help but notice the shape of her breasts, the way her hour glass figure traced lines of tantalizing erotic womanhood. He wanted her then. His stiffened cock strained against his pants, and at that moment, he wanted to feel his cock inside of her. He wanted the Baroness.

Steeler closed his eyes, shutting off such thoughts. Then the Baroness knew. She knew that wherever she was, no matter how many worlds she would pass through, there would always be this intense sexual attraction hidden beneath the surface of the G.I. JOE - Cobra conflict, a desire and a lust that knew no bounds. There would always be a Steeler who wanted the Baroness, wanted to taste her and drink in the ecstasies of her flesh. And there would always be a Baroness who would have the capability of loving Steeler, no matter how much she denied it, no matter how insurmountable the boundaries that stood in their way.

The lights in the prison block went out, and there was a sound of a brief scuffle. Steeler was struck in the head and gave a brief cry before slumping hard to the floor. When the emergency lights came on, the Baroness found herself looking at a new visitor. Steeler lay unconscious on the floor between them. The woman was the same greet shirted JOE who had passed through the front gates of headquarters not long before, but who now threw off her wig and put on her glasses, revealing herself to be none other than the Baroness. The Baroness of this world. A woman who was so adept at disguising herself and slipping undetected through JOE lines.

The two Baronesses faced each other across the bars of the prison cell.

"So we meet at last," the second Baroness said with a smile. "I wondered who this mystery woman was who had suddenly appeared on the White House lawn and looked so much like me. I couldn't stop thinking about you. I knew there was something more to this. So I had to come. I had to find you."

"Congratulations," the Baroness told her parallel self.

"I've come alone," the second Baroness said, "and I don't have much time before the JOEs realize what's going on. You will come with me now."

"Why should I?"

The second Baroness drew her pistol and aimed it point blank at her counterpart's face.

"It would be a shame to spoil that lovely face of yours. And mine, as well."

The Baroness, seeing she had no choice, allowed the second Baroness to open the prison cell and lead her out, to a destination as yet unknown. She had no idea what would happen in the next few hours. All she knew was that her situation was becoming stranger by the hour. She had to get "home," at all costs.


	40. The Double

Two women sat alone in an empty interrogation room, somewhere deep in Cobra's hidden island base. They were identical in appearance, mannerisms, and speech, and yet they were not the same. One observing them speaking would have took them for carbon copies of the same woman, yet they were not the same. Their souls were drastically different, as different as two people could be.

"You say your name is Anastasia, like my own."

"Yes."

"You see, that interests me greatly. That's why I took you away from the Joes. They wouldn't understand it, but I do."

"You understand that I come from a parallel world?"

"It was Destro who taught me such things. He taught me that infinite parallel worlds are possible, and that if we could just open the gateway with the right key, we could open the gateway to another world."

"And why is Destro interested in such things?"

"Why else? World conquest, of course. With so many other worlds out there, think of all the resources we could plunder so we could conquer this one, our own world. Cobra's mission would be a matter of child's play."

"I won't help you. I'm not like you."

"Why? Are you not the Baroness? Are you not a believer in Cobra?"

"I changed. Don't you think a person can change the things that they believe in and reject that which they had once held as 'truth?' That is what happened to me."

"What do you believe now?"

"I believe that what Cobra is fighting for is wrong."

Scornful laughter.

"How in the world did you come to such a belief? Did you suddenly grow a conscience?"

"I fell in love."

"Love? There is only one love for a woman such as you and me. Only one man who could possibly be worthy of my love. He is a man of genius, strength, and passion. That man is Destro. For the Baroness to love any other is folly."

"You're wrong. I fell in love, you see, with the Joe they called Steeler."

"Steeler? The tall, blond one that I knocked out from behind? You fell in love with _him_?"

"Yes."

"How in the world could you? Tell me, what is so special about this Steeler?"

"At first it was a game. At first he was nothing more than a prisoner, and myself the interrogator. I chained him to the wall. I teased him with my body. I was playing with him. And yet, part of me was strangely attracted to him. It was his courage and the strength of his convictions. He wouldn't give in to me, even though I knew he desired me. And when he escaped and I confronted him in an empty hallway, I was unable to shoot him. Part of me, the part that was Cobra, told me to shoot him. But I couldn't. He came closer and kissed me. I surrendered myself to him. And that's when I knew that I wanted him so deeply, that I would throw my whole life away. All the power, all the comfort. At first I could not do it, but I found the strength at last. It was easy to do it because Destro had become so cold and distant. The easy success, the power, all that had turned him into a man that I hardly knew. He was possessive but unloving. But Steeler—"

The memories all came back to her, the feelings, emotions, and sensations that had run through her during the whole time she and Steeler had been together. All the nights she had secretly gone to his room and found him waiting for her with intense hunger. Kissing him, feeling his hands groping her naked breasts, feeling his hips moving against her own on the bed as they writhed and grew drunk from their intense pleasure. The feeling of having him inside of her, thrusting inside of her until they both came. The long hours spent afterward in his arms as they shared their dreams and desires with one another.

"Then I came to share his dreams. His dreams became mine. I felt ashamed for what Cobra had done to the world, killing millions of people, brainwashing them, destroying lives, tearing the world apart and turning it into one of tyranny and hardship. I dreamed of sharing a life with Steeler, a life apart from Cobra and all that madness. I understood the pain of losing your friends, losing the man you love. I understood how a man could keep going against all obstacles, no matter the odds, fighting against a greater power for a world he believes in. I understood how the Joes could keep going and never give up, no matter how many of them had been killed and continued to be killed. Then I knew that I had become one of them. Somewhere along the line, I changed. My heart changed. And I knew that I would never fight for Cobra again."

"That may be true for you. But I do not understand that way of thinking at all. I would never leave Cobra for the Joes. There is no one on the Joe side that I could possibly fall for. Destro is the one I love. He and I will rule the world together."

"You say that now, but what will happen when you win? What will happen when all the power, all the world, is in your hands? Who's to say that the man you love today won't change into a man you hardly know?"

Later that night, with the other Baroness safely locked away in the dungeon, the Baroness who remained loyal to Cobra found Destro in their bed. It was the end of a long night, not to mention a long conversation with her double.

"There you are, my dear," Destro said as he watched her come into the quiet, dimly lit bed chamber.

"Come to bed. You know what our lord Serpentor has instructed us all to do tomorrow."

"Yes," the Baroness said. "We are to attack the Joes tomorrow and capture the Matter Transmutation Device."

"Just imagine, Anastasia. The key to conquering this world, and our final victory, is finally within our reach. Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of final victory."

"Destro?"

"Yes?"

"When we've won, when the Joes are vanquished and this world is ours, we'll remain together, won't we? Your love for me won't change, right?"

"What's gotten into you? Of course not. Is it something that the other Baroness said to you?"

"No, no, it's… it's nothing. Just… make love to me, please."

The Baroness took off the straps of her negligee and with a couple of smooth movements, the negligee slid off her body and onto the floor. She stood at Destro's bedside, completely naked. As always, her lover lustfully admired her full figured body: her neck, her voluptuous breasts, her erect nipples, her smooth navel, her flawless legs, and finally her vagina.

Destro pulled the Baroness into his arms.

G.I. JOE HEADQUARTERS

9:46 PM, the following day

Bombs rained down from the Rattlers as wave after wave of Cobra planes streamed down on the G.I. JOE headquarters. At the same time, Cobra HISS tanks and STUNs rolled through the Joes' gates and began shooting at everything in sight. Bombed Sky Strikers lay burning on the flight deck. A significant section of G.I. JOE Headquarters was in flames. It was a no-holds-barred battle, as the Joes were more than capable of defending their base, although Scarlett could not recall the last time Cobra had made such an all-out frontal attack It seemed like such a waste, like a war of attrition in its ugliest, full blown manifestation. Joe Sky Strikers met the Rattlers in the skies, each side shooting down the other's planes in nearly equal proportions, while the Joes' HAVOC and Mauler tanks engaged the enemy below.

Somewhere in the midst of the fighting, an energized Serpentor rode through the chaos on his chariot, cutting down Joes left and right with his lasers, exhorting his troops on to victory; no cost was too great for the prize they were after.

"I must have the Matter Transmutation Device. This, I command!"

Scarlett took cover behind an overturned and burning AWE Striker vehicle, firing at the Cobras that mindlessly charged for the Joe headquarters. It seemed that they had thrown in every last man into this battle. What were they trying to do that was worth this much risk? What was the goal of this senseless frontal attack?

"Scarlett, watch out!"

A rocket grenade was heading straight for her. Before she could even react, a strong hand grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her out of the way, and she felt herself being shielded by his body as the AWE Striker was sent up in an explosion.

It was Snake Eyes, unscarred and, by all appearances, as normal as a man could be. He grinned.

"Better watch your back," he yelled above the noise of the battle.

"Thanks, Snake Eyes."

Duke's voice came in over the radio.

"All Joes, this is Commander Duke. We're in danger of being overrun. Fall back to base and reform a defensive perimeter."

"Forget about _danger_ of being overrun," Snake Eyes said as he watched a pair of STUN vehicles break through the Joe lines and make a beeline for the main entrance, while a wave of flight pods came in with guns blazing, providing air cover. "We _are_ being overrun."

Scarlett took a break from firing at the advancing Cobras from behind cover of a large crate to look at the STUN vehicles that passed on their left side. Then she noticed something about the second STUN. It was being driven by the Baroness, and in one of the passenger seats, there was the other Baroness, apparently with her hands bound.

"The Matter Transmutation Device! They're after the Matter Transmutation Device! Come on!"

Snake Eyes was confused. The _what_? He knew that the Joes had recovered some strange weapon from the Baroness, but, like most of the other Joes, he had no clue what it was or what it did, much less its name.

Scarlett grabbed Snake Eyes' hand and pulled him away from the battle. She saw several other Joes and called them away from their positions. Among them were Airtight, Barbeque, Gung Ho, Dusty, Bazooka, Alpine, and Cover Girl.

"You heard Duke's order. Fall back. Let's haul ass now! Cobra's after the new weapon we captured yesterday from the Baroness. Airtight, Barbeque, Gung Ho, come with us! The rest of you hold the perimeter! Don't let any more of those bastards through. Yo Joe!"

The five Joes ran past the rest of their comrades, weaving through broken and burning anti-aircraft gun placements and totaled AWE Strikers.

A flight pod flew in at a steep angle, bearing down on them, forcing the Joes to take cover behind whatever pile of debris was most convenient. Barbeque, cursing at the "son of a bitch," let loose with his flame thrower at the flight pod as it passed over his head, and the burning flight pod and its screaming pilot streaked on past them, leaving a trail of smoke and fire as it crashed fifty yards away, into one of Cobra's own HISS tanks.

The Joes sprinted the rest of the short distance to the main entrance of their headquarters, where the two STUN vehicles Scarlett had seen pass by earlier now sat empty, their occupants evidently having penetrated into the bowels of Joe headquarters, searching for the object of Cobra's attack.

Many Joes lay dead or wounded on the floor, and among those who were down, Scarlett spotted Shipwreck, Quick Kick, Footloose, Mainframe, and Doc.

The inside of Joe headquarters was almost as much of a mess as the outside. Sections of the ceiling had caved in, the smell of burning was everywhere, and in the distance, Scarlett could make out gunfire and shouting.

Scarlett saw Gung Ho staring in shock at the carnage around them, and she grabbed him.

"Come on, we got a job to do. I know where they're headed."

The Joes headed through the staging area, where at the end lay a narrow corridor that led to the lift that would take them down to the lower levels, where the object of Cobra's desire was located. As they made their way down the corridor, an explosion rocked the building. Snake Eyes and Scarlett, who were in the lead, noticed the ceiling's integrity had been compromised, and they dove forward together as an entire section of the ceiling caved in on them, cutting them off from Airtight, Barbeque, and Gung Ho.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Snake Eyes shouted through the collapsed rubble.

"Yeah, we're okay, just a little busted up," Gung Ho said, his voice muffled.

"You guys better go on ahead," Airtight called out. "We'll have to go around and take the east stairwell."

Scarlett and Snake Eyes ran down the rest of the corridor together, hurtling toward their confrontation with the Baroness.

Downstairs, the two Baronesses had made it to the room where the Matter Transmutation Device was being stored. The Baroness, when she had come down to abduct her counterpart the night before, had been able to observe where the weapon was being kept, and now she had returned, but this time with a small cadre of Crimson Guard soldiers. They had gotten far, cutting down a number of Joes who had stood in their way. The second Baroness, her hands still handcuffed in front of her, had said nothing until this point.

The Baroness who was loyal to Cobra set up a small bomb on the safe where the gun was being kept, and set it off.

"Victory is ours," the Baroness said with pleasure as the destroyed safe revealed the object she was seeking.

"Why did you even bother to bring me?"

"You're the only one who has used this weapon," the Baroness answered her. "You're going to have to tell me if you expect to get out of this place alive."

"Suppose I refuse?"

The Baroness, taking hold of the Matter Transmutation Device, flicked the energy setting to a random level and pointed it at the other woman's head.

"There's always trial and error."

"I'm actually not even sure how to use it myself. All I know is that turning it to the highest energy level setting is what allows the weapon to open gateways to alternate worlds."

"Well, that's important to know, isn't it? That's the whole reason why we're interested in this blasted shitty device in the first place."

There was shouting outside of the room, where the Crimson Guards were supposed to guard the entrance. Gunfire followed. Grabbing the Baroness by the hands, the other Baroness ran to the door with the Matter Transmutation Device in her hand.

Outside in the hallway, one of the Crimson Guards lay dead. The remaining three were in a firefight with Steeler and Clutch, who had come storming down the corridor with grenades and handguns. Soon, the remaining three Crimson Guards were shot and on the floor. The two Baronesses saw this, saw the two Joes running toward them with their guns drawn and yelling at them to put their hands up, when the Baroness with the Matter Transmutation Device lifted it and fired.

A stream of pure white energy came shooting out of the weapon, hitting Clutch in the chest, instantly transforming him into a hunk of ice. The Baroness followed this up by taking a handgun in her other hand and shooting a single shot at Clutch, causing his body to shatter into a million tiny shards. Steeler, who had been running behind, stopped dead in his tracks and stared in shock at the pile of ice at his feet. He dropped his weapon, ignoring the Baronesses, and desperately picked up some of the ice pieces, as if that would bring his dead friend back to life.

"Clutch? What'd you do to him? How can this be happening?"

"Very impressive, this Matter Transmutation Device," the Baroness said as she advanced toward Steeler, holding the weapon at the ready. At her side, the other Baroness stood by, with a look of shock and disgust on her face.

"What are you going to do now? Shoot him too?" the Baroness asked her captor.

The other Baroness stopped admiring her weapon long enough to give her counterpart a disdainful glare.

"Do you even have to ask?"

She pointed it at Steeler, who remained kneeling on the floor, disarmed, staring up at the Baroness in despair. Steeler closed his eyes as he waited for the end. He prayed that it would not hurt too much.

The Baroness had her finger on the trigger. She was fully prepared to shoot. One motion was all it took. And yet something whispered in her heart not to do it, that doing it would somehow be a mistake she would regret forever. She had not entirely been unmoved by the other Baroness and her description of the life and love she had shared with Steeler in her world. Part of her asked herself if such a love was possible for her. Even while making love to Destro the night before, the thought had run through her head: _what if I'm meant for something more? Is this my destiny?_

Steeler opened his eyes and looked up at the Baroness, and their eyes met. For a moment, they seemed to share an understanding, as if they had peered into each other's souls and found a piece of themselves that they had never known existed. In that moment, all the barriers of war and hatred and enmity, the barriers that stood between Joes and Cobras, seemed to fall away.

Scarlett and Snake Eyes had arrived at this point, and they stood now far behind Steeler with their guns raised, aimed at the Baroness who pointed a gun at Steeler. They were shouting at her to drop it, but the Baroness heard nothing. It was all noise compared to the turmoil that now wracked her soul. She wanted to shoot Steeler because that was what she had been doing for years, killing people and taking whatever she damn well pleased. And yet part of her did not want to kill him. Part of her wondered, "what it?"

_I can't do it. I don't know why. I don't even love this man. We have no relationship. And yet I can't help but wonder._

The Baroness numbly dropped the Matter Transmutation Device on the floor. She cared not whether Cobra was carrying on well with the battle above. For all intents and purposes, it was over, and she had failed.

Scarlett picked up the Matter Transmutation Device, and she and Snake Eyes led the Baroness away, while the other Baroness remained with her hands cuffed, sitting next to Steeler, asking him if he was all right.

The Cobra Baroness had her head down as she was led away by Scarlett and Snake Eyes. As she walked down she whispered to herself, "Why did I hesitate?"

The words echoed softly down the hall.

"_Why?_"

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Can you believe this story has been going on since 2002! I think it's going to hit 50 chapters before I'm finished. I just wanted to give a little commentary on this story arc. Readers may feel like I've deviated from the main story line. But this is a sequel to Worlds Without End, after all, and I feel that part of what made that episode so great was the idea of exploring a parallel world. I thought about having the Baroness go back to the original world in that episode, where Flint, Lady Jaye, and the others had gone back to, making it a true sequel to the episode. But then I thought it would be more interesting to revisit the theme of an earlier fanfic, Strange New World, to create a new alternate reality, and have the Baroness meet her counterpart and plant the seeds for a possible relationship with the Steeler of that world. Hope it hasn't been too confusing.


	41. All This Time

In this Chapter: the conclusion to the "Baroness parallel world"story arc...

The two lovers lay peacefully in bed together, a post-coital glow emanating from their faces. Duke was asleep, an arm draped over Scarlett's body, resting on her naked breast, beneath the covers. Scarlett breathed quietly in time with her lover. They had come together once again, like always, when the battle had ended, when everyone had gone to sleep from exhaustion. Somehow, they felt the basic need to release their pent up tensions and sorrows in each other's arms, the carnal feel of flesh rubbing sinuously against flesh acting like a salve to ease the pain they were both feeling at having lost so many friends. Although the sex had been good, Scarlett continued to lay awake, staring at the dark ceiling, thinking to herself. So many questions came into her head that would not go away, no matter how hard she willed it--questions about herself, Duke, the mysterious Baroness who had come from another world, and Snake Eyes.

Scarlett thought back to the day she and Duke had first gotten together. It had all seemed so easy, back in the day. In the good old days, the Joes were defeating Cobra with ease, and Duke and Scarlett were always right there in the middle of everything, saving each other's lives with miraculous timing. Scarlett had seen the occasional flashes of hot desire that Duke directed toward her sometimes when he felt that she wasn't looking. Those looks sent a thrill through her body, from head to toe. Everyone on the Joe team admired her and thought she was hot. It wasn't only Duke. But there was something special about Duke, Scarlett felt. She was drawn to his handsome physique, his confidence, and his daring. He was so clean cut, so all-American. Scarlett never had thought he was the type of man for her. She'd always pictured herself with someone more intense, someone more mysterious. In her heart, as much as she hated to admit it, she was a hopeless romantic who dreamed of a fairy tale love story, like something out of Beauty and the Beast. The road to love would be fraught with difficulty and hardship, but in the end, she would realize a deep and abiding love with a man who would not seem to be the one at first, but on further probing, would be revealed to have a gentle and loving heart.

Something bothered Scarlett, and she found she could not sleep. A sudden thought came to her, and she rose from bed, extricating herself from Duke's arms. She found her clothes and got dressed, then left her room. It seemed very important to her that she speak to the Baroness, the one whom she had spent so many hours interrogating about the world she had come from. It had seemed so far fetched, so incredible, but now that she had seen the two Baronesses side by side and the devastating power of the Matter Transmutation Device, she felt more inclined to believe her, even if the others continued to express reluctance.

She found the Baroness locked alone in a solitary cell in the Joe brig. On another floor, the Baroness from this world, the one who had killed Clutch, lay stewing in a separate cell, under double guard by angry Joe MPs who would have loved the chance to kill her themselves. The Baroness Scarlett found was awake when she came to her. She looked weary and exhausted.

"We need to talk," Scarlett said.

"What's there to talk about? What more do you want from me?"

"I need to know more about what happened in that other world. What happened to the other me?"

The Baroness shook her head sadly.

"There are limits to how much I know, my dear," she said. "After all, I have not yet had the opportunity to speak to any of the original surviving Joes—Cover Girl, Shipwreck, Flint, Lady Jaye, or Mainframe. They were all scattered after the attack in which you—that is, the other you—died. I only know general details about Scarlett's life, but not much on the exact circumstances of her death."

Then, once again, Scarlett found herself living through the events she had never personally lived through. She saw herself meeting Snake Eyes for the first time, the silent, handsome, modest Vietnam veteran who took her on in hand to hand combat during their first martial arts class and _had let her win_. He could have easily defeated her, but he let her win for the sake of her pride. She was intrigued; she wanted to know more about this stranger. Scarlett and Snake Eyes found themselves speaking to one another off duty that day, and soon, they took the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan to spend a night on the town together. So that was how their relationship started. It was all very innocent, harkening back to an old fashioned romanticism.

But the fateful day over the Middle East came, with the chopper crash that would change both of their lives. There were two choppers flying a mission over the desert. One of them began having trouble with the engine intake, and the pilot lost control. A helicopter blade struck the other chopper, the one carrying Scarlett and Snake Eyes, and the second chopper lost control as well. There was a fire on board. The Joes were yelling at one another to jump off before they crashed. Snake Eyes was ready to go, when he noticed that Scarlett had been knocked unconscious during the chopper collision. He went back to get her, and then—a cloud of flame consumed him, igniting his head and neck, stripping him of his face and his voice.

Something went wrong. That accident and Snake Eyes' injury might have brought them together and strengthened their bond, but instead it tore them apart. They remained friends, but, for a long time, never the lovers and soul mates that they had seemed destined to become.

"Steeler told me everything that I know about Scarlett," the Baroness said. "How Scarlett met Snake Eyes, the obstacles they faced together, how something went wrong and they were separated by that invisible barrier. She let Duke into her life. All the desires she felt toward Snake Eyes, she sublimated in her relationship with Duke. But something was always missing. At least that's what all the other Joes sensed. Only in the end, after many Joes were killed, including Duke, and Cobra had conquered much of the world, did Scarlett and Snake Eyes begin to come together again. If only they hadn't died at Washington, their dream for each other might have come true."

Scarlett was astounded once again.

"How could such things be?" she said, amazed. She would never have imagined such a relationship possible between herself and Snake Eyes. "Could Snake Eyes and I have really become that close?"

The Baroness said nothing. She didn't know what else to say, really. She saw before her a woman torn between conflicting dreams and desires. Then, in a flash of inspiration, she knew what she must do.

"Come back with me," the Baroness blurted out suddenly.

Scarlett was again stunned.

"Come back?" she blinked twice in confusion. "How could I—I couldn't! I cannot allow you to even leave this room. You're not going anywhere, and I'm not going anywhere with you."

"I see it in your eyes, Scarlett. You believe in me. And, believing what you do, knowing what you know, how could you keep me here? I don't belong here. You know that. I have to go back. There are people on the other side, waiting for me. They need me. I have to go back and help defeat Cobra."

There was something truly strange hearing the Baroness say something like that. Since her arrival, the world as Scarlett knew it had been turned upside down. There was a whole other world out there, just a step away, and if she took a leap of faith, she could experience that world with her own eyes. There was another world, a world where Cobra ruled supreme, a world where the Joes desperately needed all the help they could get to win. They needed people to help join the fight for freedom.

_They need me_, Scarlett realized, shocked that she could even contemplate leaving.

"I can't," Scarlett said. "I have a life here, too, you know. I have people here to need me and depend on me. I have people here who… love me."

She thought about Duke. She loved him. Or did she really? Was it true love, or just lust? Suddenly the answer seemed not so clear to her anymore. All her foundations seemed to have been shaken in the last few days. Many Joes and Cobras had been killed over the last twenty-four hours. This was a shocking development in the war; there had been so few deaths among the Joe officer ranks since the war had begun. She thought too that she loved Duke, and yet now she found herself becoming fascinated with Snake Eyes. She was fascinated with a Snake Eyes from another world, who was now dead. But there was another Snake Eyes here, too. Was there potential here for a relationship? Was love possible between them?

_I can't leave. They need me._

But as Scarlett tried to tell herself this, she knew that was not the truth. If she left now, there would be other Joes to take her place. The situation was nowhere near as desperate as the world this Baroness had come from, where Cobra ruled and there were just five original Joes left to carry on the fight. Something about that scenario appealed to her. Part of her wanted to know if it was possible to come back and win in such a situation.

The next day was a day of recovery for many Joes. Scarlett and Snake Eyes led a detail cleaning up the wreckage strewn across the airfield, while the rest of the team busied themselves with repairing other damaged sections of Joes headquarters. Inside the medical bay, Lifeline and Doc, who had suffered a minor gunshot wound to the arm, worked tirelessly to save their teammates. There were, in total, twelve deaths, the hardest hitting being Shipwreck, Mainframe, and Quick Kick. A score of other Joes were critically injured. Running around the entire base, overseeing everything, was an energetic Duke, trying his best to keep up morale among the troops.

Now that Scarlett knew so much about the love her other self had shared with Snake Eyes, she didn't know how to act around this other Snake Eyes, the one from her own world. As they worked together, delegating tasks to the green shirt Joes under their command, Scarlett couldn't help stealing occasional glances every now and then at her colleague. His handsome, unscarred face was every bit as striking as Duke's, yet somehow… sad. It was as if he suffered a hidden burden that he carried alone and without complaint, as if he had resigned himself to the way his life had turned out. Mixed with that feeling of intense sadness was also an aura of hidden danger, of repressed violence, and an anguish borne from invisible demons.

Sometimes, while reflecting on Snake Eyes, Scarlett found herself staring at him a little too long, such that he began noticing the way she looked at him, and returned questioning glances. Other times, when she looked at him, she felt that his eyes searched her form, pierced her to the core, and burned with a tremendous hidden longing. He looked at her this way when he felt that she wasn't aware of it.

Every word spoken between them then appeared to carry an extra weight. Every word, every line, even the most mundane, seemed to say to Scarlett, _I love you. I always have, and I always will. I wish you would love me too, Scarlett. Everything would be so different._

_So different, and yet so wonderful._

And as they broke for the day, with the sun going down over the western perimeter, burning a smoldering shade of orange and violet, Scarlett and Snake Eyes walked back to the base together. Snake Eyes' hand inadvertently brushed Scarlett's, and he was quick to withdraw it, muttering a hasty "sorry." Scarlett glanced once again at Snake Eyes and could tell in the fiery glow of the sunset how deeply the pain of loneliness and longing ached in his heart. Again, the remaining foundations of her old life came falling around her. She was with Duke. God damn it! How could her life have gotten so incredibly messed up in just a few days? She was with Duke, but did he truly love her? Did she really love him? And all this time, here was Snake Eyes, all these years, secretly longing for her, loving her from a distance, always wanting to be with her but to afraid to admit his feelings toward her. The force of this conviction hit Scarlett with the swirling fury of a hurricane's storm winds.

_He loves me, he honestly loves me._

_He loved me all this time, and I never noticed._

"I'm sorry," Scarlett said when they had reached the hall leading to the base cafeteria, where the rest of the Joes were breaking for dinner.

"What do you mean?" Snake Eyes said. The two of them stood alone near the base entrance.

"All this time, I never noticed. I'm so sorry, Snake Eyes. I wish I would have realized it sooner. But there's something very important that I have to do. You'll wonder why, but I want to thank you for your friendship for me, even if I never deserved it."

Scarlett felt her eyes begin to tear up. Was this really the time to be feeling such regrets over the way she had lived the last few years? She had to go now. Any more of this and Snake Eyes would be suspicious. If he wasn't already. She could already tell that he sensed something very "not right" about her. There was no time for goodbye. The others wouldn't understand. Duke would never understand. But it was something she had to do.

_I have to help them._

Within fifteen minutes, Scarlett had taken possession of the Matter Transmutation Device and stood outside the Baroness' cell. She unlocked the cell and led the Baroness outside after dressing her in the green uniform of a Joe maintenance crew member.

Scarlett led the Baroness to the staging area, just inside of the Joe headquarters. There was no one else around. Now was the time.

"Are you sure about this?" the Baroness said. "Once we go, there may be no coming back."

"I understand," Scarlett said. "And I'm willing to accept that. Take this now."

Scarlett handed over the Matter Transmutation Device.

The Baroness set the weapon to the highest setting, pointed it at an empty spot on the floor just five feet in front of them, and pressed the trigger. The weapon activated as expected, sending forth a brilliant flash of light and energy, opening the portal back to the other world.

"Go first," Scarlett said. "I'm right behind you."

"Hurry," the Baroness said. "the portal will close momentarily."

The Baroness stepped forward and threw herself into the blinding white portal, which was just larger than she was, and disappeared. Scarlett took a deep breath and took a step forward.

"Hold it," a familiar voice said.

Scarlett turned.

Snake Eyes was there, right behind her, pointing an M16 straight at her head.

"What do you think you're doing? You just allowed a prisoner to escape. You don't really believe that nonsense about the other world, do you?"

"I don't know what to believe. But I've seen things now that I can't explain. And this is one of them. I have to know, Snake Eyes. I have to know what's on the other side."

A sudden inspiration came to her. "You could come with me."

"What?"

"We could start over," Scarlett said.

"I don't know what you're saying."

"I think you do. And I know you won't pull that trigger."

She stepped backward to the portal, which was beginning to grow smaller.

"Yeah? And why won't I?"

"I think you know the answer to that one, too."

With that, Scarlett fell back into the portal, and was gone.

"Wait! Scarlett!"

The portal was fading. Without thinking, Snake Eyes desperately lunged forward, diving through the portal as it closed around him. Then all was dark.

When Scarlett awoke, she was lying next to Snake Eyes and the Baroness on a barren patch of ground. All around them were the signs of devastation and chaos. Empty charred vehicles lay strewn across the road. Somewhere, not far, was the car where the skeletons of Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch lay resting. A couple of miles away, further down the road, was the old car that Flint and Lady Jaye had ditched after being strafed by Wild Weasel in the Rattler. Everywhere, the ground was bare and the grass sparse. Dust filled the air. The smell of death and decay was everywhere.

"We're back," the Baroness said after Scarlett roused her. "We're home."


	42. A Sort of Homecoming

Baltimore, Maryland

Carol Demming jerked awake suddenly to the sound of a dog barking. She looked at her watch. It was still dark out, and the time showed 3:40 AM. The single bedroom apartment was sparsely furnished as she had only been living there for a week. In the corner of the room lay a small duffel bag which contained all of her worldly possessions.

Carol was always on the move. Since Dusty's death and her subsequent departure from Cobra, she found that there was no place she could hide out for long. Cobra Commander's forces had pursued her relentlessly as she had made her way south from New York City. It was clear to her that Cobra Commander wanted her dead, and for good reason. She knew too much. She had knowledge that only the highest ranking Cobras had, knowledge that could bring their whole great empire down to its knees. With Dusty as Cobra Commander's trusted lieutenant, Carol had been privy to the most closely guarded plans and secrets. And she was on the run; she'd been running for six months.

The small, faint kick in her belly reminded her of the child she carried. It was Dusty's child, the child he would never see. Carol had not been able to receive any prenatal care. She had no idea what sex the baby was. But she had been pregnant for six months now. It was entering into the third trimester. Every week that passed, Carol found it increasingly difficult to maintain her fugitive lifestyle. Always running, always looking over her shoulder. It was getting harder for her to breathe now; she tired more easily. Sometimes she even felt the occasional tinge of nausea, and when it hit her, she was forced to sit and close her eyes, hoping the sensation would pass over her. The weight of her abdomen was beginning to wear her down as well. Carol was not sure what would happen when it was time for the baby to be born. All major medical facilities were closely monitored by Cobra security, and finding a good doctor who could be trusted was very difficult, if not impossible.

The sound of the barking dog alerted her from her sleep. She'd become more sensitive of late, more jumpy. It could mean trouble if the cause of the dog's agitation was the approach of Cobra commandos. Carol roused herself from her bed, crept over to the front window in the dark and pulled back the edge of the curtain with great care. To her dismay, she saw four Cobra Viper commandos, dressed in black and equipped with night vision, moving along the outdoor landing that led to the apartments on her level. They were still at the far end, about three doors down, moving in a two by two cover formation.

For any normal person in this scenario, this would have spelt trouble, but Carol had been prepared for this possibility. She hastily stuffed her unpacked belongings (a few clothes and toiletries) into her duffel bag and hurried to the back of her apartment, where there was a small patio area. Carol grabbed hold of the rope tied around the rail and tossed it down the three story height to the ground, where she saw a parking lot. There were a few cars parked down there but no people.

She let fall her duffel bag and it landed on the asphalt surface with a soft thud. Then she took hold of the rope and climbed down as quickly as she could.

Minutes later, Carol was safely on the ground, where she picked up her bag, slung it over the shoulder, and quietly ran through the parking lot, aiming to escape to the nearby alleyway. She knew that at that moment, the Vipers were breaking down her door and storming her apartment, ready to shoot on sight. But they would find the apartment empty. If they bothered to search the back patio, which she knew they would, they would find the rope leading down that would indicate her escape route. Carol tried to run faster down the alleyway and came to the next street. She crept to an area in the alley hidden in shadow from the street lights nearby and crouched, seeking to rest.

Carol was so tired. The swell in her belly reminded her of her reason to live. It was Dusty's child. That child was all she had left of the love of her life. She had dreams of raising the child in a way that would have made her husband proud. But first she needed to survive Cobra. She could not do this on her own; she needed G.I. JOE. There was rumor that G.I. JOE had staged another raid on the fortress in Washington, DC. With that, Carol knew she must travel to the DC area and try to find them by whatever means possible. With her intelligence training, she knew she could do it, and could beat the other Cobras to it.

Arlington, Virginia

It was a reunion of sorts. Shipwreck and Cover Girl, long separated from their comrades, returned at last to the Washington, DC area and found themselves with Joes they thought had been killed a long time ago. Once again, in the old hotel room where the Joes had met after the battle in which Hawk had been killed, the Joes found themselves together again. Shipwreck and Cover Girl took seats together by the front window, facing the street. The Baroness, Steeler, and Layla sat together on the sofa, and next to them, Grunt and Clutch, had taken seats of their own. Scarlett and Snake Eyes sat on one of the beds. Together, the odd group formed a sort of circle of friends.

There was so much to tell, each person took turns telling their stories. Shipwreck and Cover Girl told everyone of how they had said goodbye to Flint and the others, choosing to pursue a personal mission across the country and halfway across the Pacific Ocean. Over the last few weeks, they had slowly made their way back to the East Coast, hoping to reconnect with Flint and the others, and instead finding other Joes they had no idea existed. Layla kindly explained how Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch had come from another world by accident and had decided to stay. Then it was the Baroness's turn to explain how she had come back with Scarlett and Snake Eyes, from yet another alternate reality.

"I had no idea such a thing existed," marveled Cover Girl as the Baroness laid out the Matter Transmutation Device on the circular dining table in the center of the room.

"We have to make a decision about this weapon," the Baroness said. "What are we going to do with it?"

No one had an immediate answer.

"Clearly, this was the original prototype developed by Destro," the Baroness said. "We cannot allow this device to fall back into Cobra's hands. It's way too dangerous."

"I agree," Grunt said. "Do you think we should destroy it to prevent its recapture?"

"Wait," Scarlett said. "If you do that, Snake Eyes and I will never be able to go back to our own world."

"Then you must please consider our cause," the Baroness said. "You knew when you came back with me that there might be no return. I believe in your heart, you were prepared for that possibility."

"But… I'd never see my family again," Scarlett stammered. "I'd never see my friends again."

_I'd never see Duke again_

Scarlett left that thought unsaid. How could she think of Duke at a time like this? Some part of her soul told her that there was no turning back. She'd committed herself to a course of action that meant leaving Duke and perhaps starting a new life with Snake Eyes at her side. She didn't even love Snake Eyes. I must be crazy, she kept thinking. Yet something had driven her to cross over the invisible boundary that divided worlds.

"But you have to consider," Layla said, "that Destro must surely know how to rebuild it."

"In that case," Shipwreck broke in, "we have to have a counter of our own. Perhaps we should not destroy this device. We could hold it as a last resort."

"You don't understand," the Baroness said. "I've seen what this weapon can do. It's horrible. We shouldn't ever use it, even against our enemies."

In her mind, the Baroness was seeing an image of Clutch being transformed into ice and shattering. She shook her head in horror.

"Okay then," Shipwreck said. "Let's destroy it right here and now."

He made his way over to the table and was about to pick it up and do something drastic, such as stomp on it with his heel, when Scarlett reached over to put her hand over the weapon.

"Wait," she pleaded. "I'll hold on to it. I won't use it. I'll just… keep it safe."

"You understand what you're doing? It's going to be your responsibility," Shipwreck said.

Scarlett nodded.

"Guard this with your life, then," Shipwreck said, retracting his hand.

Scarlett took the pistol sized device and tucked it under her belt.

Later that night, when everyone else had gone to sleep, Cover Girl joined Scarlett on the patio right outside of their hotel room. It was past midnight, and the full moon shone brightly down. Not far away, across the Potomac River, the sounds of thunder and explosions could be heard. It seemed that Cobra Commander was once again attacking Destro's Washington fortress.

"Can't sleep?" Cover Girl asked.

"No," Scarlett said. "I know I should. I know I should be strong for tomorrow, whatever it brings. I should sleep, but I just can't."

Both women were silent. Finally, Cover Girl had to ask the question that had been brewing in her mind since Scarlett's arrival in this world.

"It's so strange seeing Snake Eyes again, without the scars and with his full voice," she remarked.

Scarlett turned to her. Both women faced each other as they leaned over the rail overlooking the empty courtyard with its small swimming pool several floors down, lit only by the light of the moon.

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know," Scarlett said. "I know how much he loves me. He's always loved me, since the very beginning. He's done so much for me, yet I never noticed. I never noticed the feelings he left unsaid. Seems like I ought to love him back, at least a little."

"Maybe that's why you're here," Cover Girl said. "To find the answer to that question."

"Cover Girl," Scarlett said, "how did we die? I mean, the other me and the other Snake Eyes?"

Cover Girl looked at her briefly and then turned away, looking at the stars above. Her eyes grew teary.

"We were attacking the Cobra fortress over in DC," she said. "It was quite a while ago. Shipwreck had been captured by Cobra, and part of our mission was to rescue him. I went with Scarlett and Snake Eyes and we freed him, but Scarlett was shot during our escape. We were pinned down. Snake Eyes made the decision to stay with Scarlett so that the two of us could escape."

Cover Girl covered her face with her hands. She was reliving the moment for the first time in many months, and it retained all its power.

"They gave their lives for us."

Cover Girl turned to Scarlett and, wiping her eyes with her jacket sleeve, took her hands in hers.

"When I see you again like this, it's like you've come back to life again. You've come back to try to live the life that might have been. There's so much Scarlett and Snake Eyes might have done together, but they never had the chance. You've been given that chance."

Scarlett smiled, touched by her words.

"I'll make the best of it," Scarlett promised.

They stayed together in silence for a little while longer, the sounds of distant war slowly fading into the night.

_Coming soon: more on Scarlett and Snake Eyes, Carol Demming (bet you thought I forgot about her, huh?), and a return to the War in Europe!_

Author's Note: Hi, I just felt like taking the opportunity to ramble a little. This story has been many things, but for me, the center of the story, at least for the first 30 chapters, was the love story for Shipwreck and Cover Girl. I became interested in this love story after reading a story by Rod Hannah 4 years ago called the Sailor's Lament. There was an expanded version in which a lot more happened than what was posted on this site, but the story was never finished. So I decided to write my own version of their love story. In chapter 3, Shipwreck confesses his love to Cover Girl on a beach. This was a very personal scene for me, since I once had that similar experience 5 years ago. Of course the girl didn't like me back, and I was haunted by that experience for a long time afterward. In many ways, I'm like the title of that chapter, "The Dreamer." So the story of two lovers being separated and coming together again against all odds was very close to my heart. I didn't get this kind of resolution, but the people of my story did. There is the appeal of fanfiction, I think. We get the storylines and endings that were never made, the dreams that we always wanted to dream.


	43. The City of Blinding Lights

PARIS, FRANCE

The Hotel de Ville

Buzzer lay in his room alone, sharpening his combat knife as he pondered the events of the last twenty-four hours.

He was inside the Hotel de Ville of Paris, where the Dreadnoks had set up their headquarters. Even now, he could still see the menacing eyes that glowered down on him through the viewscreen.

"_I'm most displeased with your failures," the hooded Cobra Commander said, communicating his displeasure as forcefully as he could across the Atlantic Ocean. _

_Buzzer swallowed hard. He had no excuses. It was a long way from the snowy streets of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Slowly but surely over a three month period, Cobra forces had been pulling back westward, back across Europe. Their supply lines broken in Saint Petersburg, Cobra had been thrown into disarray. The Joes and their European allies had taken advantage and conducted ceaseless guerrilla attacks at every opportunity. At key moments, Joes had engaged their enemies in battle, with disastrous results for Cobra. Borodino. Warsaw. Prague. Berlin. Verdun. All of these confrontations had ended with Cobra falling back, giving up ground, until they were pushed all the way into France, on the verge of being thrown out of Europe altogether._

"_Have you any explanation for yourself?"_

"_No, Commander."_

"_Hear this. You make a stand against the Joes. Don't come back here unless you win, or I'll have you shot."_

"Easy for him to say," Buzzer grumbled. "Son of a bitch."

He didn't know why his forces kept losing. What did the Joes have now that Cobra didn't have? Cobra had all the weapons, the technology. But the Joes had something else, something intangible. The ability to strike hard and fade away into the night. The indomitable will to succeed against overwhelming odds.

Buzzer threw his knife hard against the wall, on the other side of his room. The sharp point landed in the middle of the wall and lay embedded there.

It would be here, in Paris, where the Dreadnoks and their troops would make their stand. And, oh what a stand it would be. Buzzer would pull out all the stops. He'd use every trick in the Cobra playbook. And with the right amount of preparation, they would stop the cursed Joes dead in their tracks, crush their silly quixotic rebellion. And what's more, he would finally have his revenge on a certain woman. The thought of Zarana obsessed him more and more. Often, he had erupted in ecstasy in his sleep, dreaming about the time he had had her naked body at his mercy. The taste of her flesh. The feeling of her wetness. The involuntary shudder of pleasure he'd elicited from her when he'd touched her in certain sensitive places. These memories tormented him. He would have her again; he'd take her away from that wimp Mainframe and make her his slave. At that moment, Buzzer began fantasizing vividly of having non-consensual sex with Zarana, and he felt he would explode from the thought. He shuddered. His breathing quickened.

"I'll have you," Buzzer whispered feverishly as he lay back on his bed. "I'll make you my _slut_."

Montmarte

The district of Montmarte, the highest section in the city, was where the Joes and their allies had made their temporary refuge. In an old café near the Basilique du Sacre Coeur, the Joes held a meeting to determine the plan for the next day's attack. Flint and Lady Jaye were most involved in the planning, and were avidly discussing their plans with members of the French resistance. All in all there were about twenty people in the café. Outside, a chilly night wind blew as Low-Light and Daina stood watch together. They leaned against a wall along the street. They stood on high ground; below them, they could see the whole expanse of Paris and all its landmarks. The French citizens walked by them, oblivious to the fact that the battle to liberate their city was hours away.

"It's beautiful," Daina said.

Low-Light only nodded.

"Makes you almost forget that there's a war going on," Daina said.

Low-Light turned his eyes toward her. With his eyes behind his red goggles, Low-Light knew that Daina wouldn't be able to tell that he was looking at her.

"What is it?" Daina asked.

Low-Light sighed. Somehow she knew. She always knew when she was being watched. It was the sixth sense that she possessed. He had the same ability as well. They were both so alike.

But as Low-Light glanced at her again, he realized how beautiful she was. All this time they had been fighting alongside one another, covering for one another, spotting targets for one another, he had never really stopped to think about her as a woman. He never stopped to think about what would happen if they came this far. Suppose they threw Cobra out of Europe. What then? Where would Daina go? Would she come back with them? Would she come back with _him_?

All his life, Low-Light had never pondered the idea of life with a woman. He was a clone, so of course he'd never had relationships before. But he remembered details of his life before he had been killed at Washington, DC, and even then, he could not recall ever having a serious relationship with a woman. There just hadn't been anyone special for him. Not that he hadn't tried. But it never seemed to work out for him. He would go out on dates that were unsuccessful, even disastrous. There was something about him that repelled women. The sense of inner darkness he carried with him. The feeling of deep, profound loneliness, ever present. Like Cal Trask from _East of Eden_. After a while, he had simply stopped thinking about it. He'd thrown himself into his work with the Joes, forgetting about relationships, concentrating only on becoming a great marksman. No one could top him. He'd never been beaten in a sniper duel until he came across Daina. She was the one woman who beat him. She beat him and then she saved him, helped him remember who he was.

Was he in love with Daina?

"I was just thinking," Low-Light said.

Daina patted Low-Light's hand as they stood together. Low-Light's hand burned through his glove from her touch.

"Don't think too hard," Daina said.

Outside the Sacre Coeur

The meeting had ended. Mainframe and Zarana had retired for the night, Low-Light and Daina continued to talk to each other outside the café where the meeting had taken place, and now Flint and Lady Jaye finally had time for themselves. They sat on the stone steps just outside of the 19th century church, the Basilique du Sacre Coeur, the "Sacred Heart" church that stood on the top of the highest point in Paris. This late at night, the number of tourists walking up and down the long path of stone steps had dwindled.

Flint sat in silence on the side, gazing out over Paris in the night lights. The Eiffel Tower, lit up at night, was easy to see from this vantage point. Another 19th century creation, the Eiffel Tower, France's ever lasting national symbol, had assumed another kind of importance to both the Joes and the Cobras. It was now critical to Flint's plan, and he pondered that plan, turning it over in his head, trying to foresee everything that could possibly go wrong.

Lady Jaye touched his hand, and he broke his gaze to turn to face her.

"You're thinking about tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yes, Ally."

"After all this time, it comes down to this."

Yes. The French resistance had provided Flint with enough information on the layout of Cobra's forces and facilities to plan this all-out attack. This time, like in Saint Petersburg and every other city, resistance fighters would be vital to the war effort. About three hundred French freedom fighters were standing by. Along the way, the Joes had also picked up allies who had accompanied them on their push westward, including among them a number of Russians, Poles, Czechs, Germans, and Dutch. The loose coalition of European allies had assembled their leaders in Montmarte for war planning and were scattered in strategic locations all over Paris, ready to strike at the planned moment.

Flint looked up at the clear night sky. That could change at any moment, he knew. Cobra had transformed the Eiffel Tower into a makeshift weather dominator, rigging the very top of the tower with the machinery required to trigger instantaneous weather changes favorable to Cobra. That machinery would have to be destroyed. The entire Champs Elysee running from the Arc de Triomphe to the obelisque of the Place de la Concorde had been transformed as well into Cobra's staging area. The innumerable shops and stores that had once sold expensive perfumes, Swatch watches, and designer clothes had been gutted and turned into weapon storage areas. HISS tanks, STUN vehicles, and FANG choppers were stationed along the street, ready to take off to perform operations around the city at a moment's notice. France's great museum, the enormous Louvre, located not far from the Place de la Concorde, had likewise been perverted by Cobra. Its great halls had once housed the masterpieces of world art, but now stored great bins of Cobra's chemical and biological weapons.

Everything vital to Cobra's continued operation in Europe had been concentrated in these critical locations in the heart of Paris. It was vital that they all be destroyed. France's great monuments would be preserved if possible, but if that was not possible, Cobra would have to be destroyed at all cost. Destroying the leadership of Cobra's European campaign was just as critical, and French intelligence had determined the patterns of the Dreadnoks' movements throughout the city as they made their rounds, ensuring the smooth operation of Cobra's forces. The Joes would ambush the Dreadnoks at the right moment, and destroy them once and for all.

There was so much to think about. So much at stake. The entire outcome of the war seemed to rest on this battle. Win, and the Joes could return in triumph to the United States and destroy Cobra once and for all. Lose, and Cobra might regain control in Europe, with the resistance broken.

Flint sighed.

"Some honeymoon this turned out to be," he said to Lady Jaye with a sardonic smile.

Lady Jaye smiled back at him. It was true. They were so busy fighting against Cobra that they'd never been able to have a proper honeymoon. How long ago was it that they had had a secret wedding in an anonymous chapel in Philadelphia, witnessed by Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl? It seemed like ages. They had exchanged their vows and married at long last, and then it had been business as usual. Yet in a way, this whole campaign in Europe had been a sort of honeymoon. Perhaps the best she could have asked for, under the circumstances. How many amazing cities had they been through in the course of the last year? Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Warsaw, Prague, Berlin, Frankfurt, Amsterdam. And now the great city of Paris. So many places, so many amazing sights, and yet over everything there was the shadow of war. Now she knew how Americans must have felt when they came to Europe in the Second World War.

"It's been pretty incredible so far, Dash," Lady Jaye said, leaning in to kiss him on the lips as they sat there on the steps.

They sat there like two teenagers, gazing at the city of lights for as long as they could allow themselves the pleasure.

Arc de Triomphe

It was early in the morning, before sunrise, when two dark figures slipped past the guards standing at the base of the Arc de Triomphe by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, using the darkness as cover. They slowly made their way up the steps until they reached the top, where they fired silenced pistols at the two guards stationed there, killing them.

Low-Light took out his sniper scope and surveyed the activity on the Champs Elysee below. He could see the Cobra troops down below, small as little bugs from this height, scurrying back and forth, doing their business, unaware of the chaos that was about to be unleashed. Columns of HISS tanks and STUNs rumbled down the street toward them, breaking off to head in different directions down the streets that led away from the circular street formed at the base of the Arc de Triomphe. Low-Light then looked in a different direction, toward the Eiffel Tower, where the weather dominator was. He thought about the Joe allies there, ready to make their move and storm the tower. It would all take a coordinated surprise to overwhelm the Cobras once and for all.

Daina took up a position next to him and looked with him through her own sniper scope.

"It's a gorgeous view," she said. "You know, this is the first time I've ever been in Paris."

"Yeah, me too."

"This is one of the rewards of being a sniper. We get the nicest views."

"Exactly," Low-Light said. "Hope we don't destroy too much of it."

Their arms were touching, and yet neither made a move away from each other. It just felt natural that they should be this close. Low-Light felt a strong urge to put his arm around her, to hold her tight.

The two snipers stopped their surveillance and sat down behind the walls of the top of the Arc, hiding themselves from the view of the people below. They began assembling their sniper rifles.

"You nervous?"

"You know the answer to that," Low-Light said.

Daina smiled.

"Of course. That's one of the things I love about you."

Love. She'd used the word love. He was never nervous before a battle, it was true. But the thought of what would happen afterward, the thought of being parted from her—that gave him a certain degree of anxiety, for the first time since that night in the forest when he had been all alone.

There's nothing to fear now, he assured himself. She's here with me. That's all I need to know.

With such thoughts flitting in and out of his troubled mind, Low-Light allowed himself time to rest before the battle.


	44. The Battle for Paris

1Arc de Triomphe

At 5:30 AM, Paris exploded into chaos.

Bombs planted everywhere throughout the city exploded simultaneously. Using the noise as cover, Low-Light and Daina began taking shots on the Cobra officers, downing them one by one with headshots as they stood along the Champs Elysee. During the shooting, Low-Light continued to look for signs of the Dreadnoks but failed to find them. They weren't there, so in the meantime he took out as many of the lower officers as he could. Down below, members of the French resistance poured into the streets, engaging the enemy in hand to hand combat. Somewhere, further down the street, Flint was leading members of his team into the battle.

The Champs Elysee - Near the Place de la Concorde

Leaving their two snipers to cover the French resistance at the other end of the long avenue, Flint and Lady Jaye led a group of French freedom fighters against Cobra forces at their end.

The disorganized Cobra forces had taken cover behind their tanks and were firing on the Joes as they ran from building to building. The Joes ducked behind the Cobra tanks and cars to avoid enemy fire.

A FANG chopper came down near the street, angling to blow the Joes away. Machine gun fire roared through the morning air, and the strafing run cut down two Frenchmen. One of them was carrying a rocket launcher. Crawling on the sidewalk toward the downed Frenchman, with glass and hot metal falling everywhere around him, Flint grabbed hold of the rocket launcher, sighted the FANG flying over him, and fired a rocket propelled grenade at the chopper, hitting the tail and sending it crashing near the obelisque of the Place de la Concorde, further down the street.

"Keep pressing!" Flint yelled as he threw down the rocket launcher and fired shots with his rifle straight ahead of him, killing two Vipers who were charging him along the street.

"We must reach the Louvre!"

The sun had begun to rise, but the skies abruptly darkened. The wind picked up, and the clouds gathered over the city, unleashing the few rain drops that would inevitably become a downpour. At the center of the storm, Flint saw in the distance, rising above all else, the Eiffel Tower. He prayed that Mainframe and Zarana would be able to get to the top of the tower in time and destroy that infernal Weather Dominator.

The Hotel de Ville

At the Cobra headquarters, reports began streaming in to the Dreadnoks, who for the moment remained away from the action, directing their subordinates. Buzzer leaned back in his swivel leather chair as he watched camera feeds on the large viewscreen in his executive suite. Torch and Ripper stood in front of him, fidgeting uncomfortably. There was no question that Buzzer, always the cleverest of the three, was the man in charge with Zartan out of the picture.

A crimson guard came running in with the latest news.

"We have just received word that Flint and Lady Jaye have been spotted leading a group of rebels near the Place de la Concorde. Their objective appears to be the Louvre armory. And we have also spotted Mainframe and Zarana–"

Buzzer's ears pricked up at the name, and he went from mild boredom to full attention in a second.

"Zarana? Where is she?"

"Zarana and Mainframe have been reported to be leading another group near the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. Their objective appears to be the Weather Dominator."

Buzzer's mind was made up. At once, he knew what he had to do. The confrontation he had dreamed of for months had finally arrived. At last he would have payback for the wound she had given him in Saint Petersburg. At last he would make her his own.

"Uh, boss, what do you want us to do?" Ripper said uneasily.

"Fools," Buzzer cursed the day he had ever teamed up with such dullards. "The two of you deal with Flint. Kill that son of a bitch. I want his head."

Buzzer threw on his jacket and fixed his shades as he slung his chainsaw over his shoulder and marched out of the room.

"I'll take care of Zarana."

_I'll take care of her, all right. And when I'm done with her, she'll be begging me to kill her._

Arc de Triomphe

Low-Light took stock of the situation. The battle had now been going on for half an hour and he wanted it to end already. He and Daina, prepared for the possibility of the Weather Dominator coming into play, had donned ponchos, but the both of them were still thoroughly soaked despite their measures. Lightning was striking parts of the city in the distance as the dark clouds echoed the roars of thunder. Sections of the city for miles around were in flames. The roars of gunfire and explosions were everywhere. By radio communication, he knew that Flint and Lady Jaye had managed to pass the Place de la Concorde, cross the Tuilleries gardens, and fight their way into the Louvre. Meanwhile, Mainframe and Zarana were having some difficulty getting into the Eiffel Tower, having encountered stiff resistance. Along the Champs Elysee, the French fighters were brutally engaged with their hated Cobra oppressors, fighting them hand to hand in some cases, commandeering the enemy vehicles and using the vehicles against the enemy, and exchanging gun fire within the shops lining the street as they fought from building to building. Along the street, Cobra tanks were seen bursting into flames and glass windows of the stores were blowing out, sending showers of glass onto the pavement.

A bullet whizzed by, a few feet away from Low-Light's left ear. The two snipers were starting to take fire from below, the enemy having become aware of their presence. The snipers had done their job. They had taken out a number of enemy officers on the ground, allowing the French rebels to take advantage of the breakdown in command and engage. It was time to help elsewhere.

"We need to displace, now," Low-Light said to Daina, putting a hand on her shoulder as she sighted an enemy and fired one last time.

The Eiffel Tower

Zarana, Mainframe, and a half dozen French fighters were fighting their way up the Eiffel Tower while the intense battle raged all around them. They were climbing their way up a spiral of steel girders and fences intended to prevent accidental falls. The Eiffel Tower had become the center of the storm created by Cobra, a seeming magnet for the dark clouds from which lightning and thunder erupted, along with torrential downpours. The adverse weather seemed to have exacted its calculated effect. It had slowed down the rebels' offensive, buying Cobra time and allowing them to entrench their defenses.

Cobra was waiting for them at the first deck. Two squads of Cobra Vipers had positioned themselves opposite the stairway entrance and began firing, forcing a slight retreat back into the stairway.

"Mainframe!" Zarana shouted.

"I'm working on it," Mainframe said, furiously tapping away into his laptop computer. Through a wireless internet connection, he had hacked into the Eiffel Tower defense network and with a few keystrokes, succeeded in cutting off the lights on the first deck.

"Night vision!" Mainframe said, and the team followed suit, donning their night vision gear and storming the deck, taking the surprised and confused Cobras by surprise.

When the smoke had cleared on the first deck, all the Cobra troopers were down. But several of the rebels had gone down as well, including Mainframe.

"Son of a bitch," he grunted as he held his wounded left knee.

"Are you all right?" Zarana asked, forgetting everything else and going to his side.

"It's nothing serious," Mainframe said, "But I think my left femur is broken. Can't walk."

He tore off a strip of cloth from his uniform and made a makeshift dressing.

"That should hold the bleeding."

Mainframe gestured toward his laptop computer. During the fight, it had taken a bullet as well, and was out of commission.

"It's totalled," Mainframe said mournfully. "I'm useless to you right now. You'll have to proceed up to the next deck without me."

"But will you be okay here by yourself? You won't be able to get to a safe place until I destroy the Weather Dominator."

"Don't worry about me. I'm a soldier. I can take care of myself. You have to finish the job for me. On the second deck, that's where the main computers for the Weather Dominator machinery are located. Take the C4 we brought and blow it to hell."

Zarana nodded. She picked up the bag containing their explosives, reloaded her weapon, and shouted some orders to their French comrades, alerting them that they would be advancing up the stairs to the next level.

Zarana leaned in and kissed Mainframe with a long, passionate kiss before she took off for the next stairway.

"See you soon, love," she said.

The Louvre

The lights were down in the Louve's Porte des Lions Entrance as Flint, Lady Jaye, and their squad of French fighters entered.

"It's too quiet," Lady Jaye whispered to Flint as they turned on the flashlights mounted on their rifles and began their sweep of that wing of the Louvre.

It didn't take them long to find their objective. Lined up and down the hall of this particular wing of the Louvre was their objective: rows and rows of Cobra's biochemical weapons, stored up in closed wooden crates. The hall had been stripped of all its artworks and now was a pure weapons storage facility. The Joes took out the plastic explosives charges and ran up and down the hall, distributing the bombs along the length of the wing. They were all wired to a remote detonator.

When the group of Joes emerged from the Louvre from where they had entered, they found themselves facing an unwelcome sight. Three STUN vehicles now stood between them and the Tuilleries garden, their route of escape. Two of the Dreadnoks, Ripper and Torch, rode up in their motorcycles.

"I bet you thought you could destroy our weapons stockpile," Ripper said, "but we don't need those things to beat you. We'll kill you all right now."

Flint, Lady Jaye, and their half dozen French comrades were cornered. In another instant, the Cobras would fire and it would be all over. Flint felt the detonator in his pocket and considered reaching into there with his hand to set off the bombs. He didn't know how he could make his move without being shot. Just when he was about to do it anyway, a shot rang through the air, and before anyone could tell what had happened, Ripper was on the ground, a bullet through his head.

Everyone, Joes and Cobras alike, turned around in that instant to see where that distant shot had come from. It had been a ground level shot, from more than a hundred yards away.

Flint did not hesitate. He jammed his hand into his pocket and set off the detonator, and at once, all the windows blew out of the entire wing of the Louvre, as gas and debris came streaming out.

A second shot at that instant took out one of the STUN drivers. While half of the Cobras shot blindly at their unseen enemies, the other half turned on the Joes, who were firing on them.

Two French soldiers fell to gunfire.

Lady Jaye realized with panic that they were too close to the explosion.

"Gas masks!" she shouted to Flint and the remaining French rebels.

A bullet got Lady Jaye in the leg as she fumbled to put her mask on, and she fell. The whole plaza outside the Louvre was shortly enveloped in Cobra's poison gas. The gas was a dark, thick cloud that obscured everything, making combat nearly impossible. In the confusion, unprepared Cobra soldiers succumbed to the effects of the gas and turned on each other, killing each other with mindless fury. The same thing happened to the remaining French, many of whom had failed to get their masks on in time. In the darkness, Lady Jaye felt someone on top of her, pinning her to the ground, and she could see in closeness that it was Flint. He was not wearing a mask; Cobra's mind control gas had taken hold of him, and he was now trying to strangle Lady Jaye.

"I'll kill you, bitch, die," Flint hollered hoarsely, like a maniac.

"Flint," Lady Jaye gasped through her mask, her hands on Flint's arms, fighting him.

She wasn't strong enough to resist him for long. The shot she had taken had sapped away some of her strength. She was at Flint's mercy, and now he was going to kill her, just like all those crazed people at Washington, DC had mobbed the Joe stronghold and helped Cobra to overwhelm the Joes, so long ago. It couldn't end this way. Lady Jaye's mind raced furiously to that time, that quiet time in an autumn in Philadelphia when they had stood together in a chapel and pledged their lifelong love for one another. She thought back to the battles they had fought and survived together. She thought to all the times they had made love as husband and wife, finally free from all the sneaking around and pretending they'd had to do when the Joe team was still intact. A myriad of thoughts and emotions swelled through her brain as she felt Flint's hands close around her throat, throttling her.

"Dash," she said again, weaker this time. Their eyes met, and for a brief second, she felt there was some kind of connection established between them. Then in a moment of inspiration, Lady Jaye saw that she had gotten through, and she at once saw the intense conflict raging through Flint's mind and body. He tensed up, his hands slackened, and suddenly he gave a cry of agony and rolled off of her body, his own body limp and unconscious.

The Eiffel Tower

Zarana led her team up the stairs to the second deck, racing ahead of them. She felt as if an unseen hand were driving her onward to a destiny and a confrontation that she could not yet fathom. When they reached the top of the stairs, they found the area unguarded. All the guards had apparently gone down to fight them at the lower levels.

"Start setting the bombs," Zarana snapped to her French comrades, and they all spread out over the steel deck, placing the charges calculated to destroy the supercomputers that ran the machinery of the Weather Dominator. Zarana glanced at her watch. She did not want to leave Mainframe down there alone for too long.

Zarana's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden explosion that knocked her off her feet. She fell hard onto the deck. Smoke was everywhere. The French rebels were all down as well, most of them apparently killed. There was a gaping hole in the girded barrier that enclosed the second deck, and through the twisted metal and smoke, Zarana could make out the outline of a helicopter.

Her hated nemesis, Buzzer, stood on the landing beam of the FANG chopper as the Viper pilot guided the chopper closer to the opening.

When the chopper had gotten close enough, Buzzer leaped off the landing beam and through the opening that had been created by the FANG's missile, onto the second deck of the Eiffel Tower. His chainsaw was slung over his shoulder. He now reached for it as Zarana got to her feet. The chopper flew off. Lightning flashed, followed by the roar of thunder, and the brief burst of light illuminated the faces of the two enemies.

Buzzer switched on his chainsaw. Zarana held up her rifle with bayonet attached, ready to attack.

"We're alone now, my pretty," Buzzer said. "No one's going to save you now."

"I don't need anyone to save me from you."

"Come on, now, love, you know you want it. You know I'm the one who can give it to you."

With that, Buzzer charged, and he gave a wild yell as he swung the chainsaw down at her. Zarana ducked away at the last second, and the chainsaw struck one of the many computer monitors arrayed around the deck, sending up a shower of sparks. Buzzer lunged again, striking sideways, and Zarana brought up her rifle to parry. Steel ground on steel, and their faces were close enough for Zarana to smell the odor of grape soda that lingered on Buzzer's breath. Zarana gave an outward push, momentarily knocking Buzzer off balance, and jabbed with her bayonet. The knife found the flesh on Buzzer's check, resulting in a painful gash.

Buzzer screamed.

"You cut me in the face," he said, disbelieving.

"I'm going for your dick next," Zarana said.

Zarana charged, and soon the two were engaged in a strange fencing duel, only with chainsaw and bayoneted rifle instead of swords. They went back and forth along the deck, with the periodic lightning alone serving to light the angry expressions on their faces.

Buzzer gave a mighty swing, and he finally succeeded in knocking the rifle out of Zarana's hands. The rifle flew off ten yards to the side. Buzzer knew he had her now. He advanced slowly with his chainsaw, backing her up against the wall near the opening through which he had entered to begin with. Buzzer threw down his chainsaw and punched Zarana in the gut, knocking the wind out of her.

"Bitch," he cried. "That's for what you did to me in Russia. I'll have you now."

And before Zarana knew it, Buzzer's weight was on her, backed up against the wall. His hands were on her breasts. He undid the zipper of her pants as he fumbled with his own. His erection was straining to burst out of his pants. Buzzer kept both of Zarana's hands restrained as he held her against the steel mesh barrier. Behind Zarana, he could see the city's lights in the darkness, and the fiery explosions bursting all over the city. Buzzer began thrusting against Zarana with his naked cock, but she had closed her legs tight and wouldn't let him in.

"Open your legs for me," he said in desperate lust. He felt himself about to lose control.

At that moment, Zarana brought her head forward and gave him a furious head butt, splitting open his forehead, causing him to stagger backward in pain and release her hands.

"You bitch!" he cried. "Bitch!"

It was her moment of opportunity. Zarana reached down to her boot and produced a hidden knife, which she promptly used to stab Buzzer in the stomach. Buzzer looked down, with blood dripping down his face, in shock at the knife. While he did that, Zarana calmly pulled her pants back up and zipped her pants.

"I've had enough of you," Zarana growled as she grabbed Buzzer and threw him out through the hole in the steel mesh fence, sending him, exposed penis and all, falling hundreds of feet down the Eiffel Tower, screaming all the way down.

Zarana watched her enemy fall, and she collapsed to her knees in exhaustion. Her heart had been pounding so hard in her chest, she could hardly breathe. Every muscle in her body seemed to go limp. She pulled out the detonator from her pocket and stared at it, as if to remind her of the job that still needed to get done. But in the meantime, she allowed herself just a few minutes of rest.

The Garden of the Tuilleries

Lady Jaye staggered to a halt as she carried her husband over her shoulder. It was too much for her, in her weakened state. There was no moving anywhere. She looked around her and saw that the mind control gas, which carried a green hue, had just about dissipated.

Low-Light and Daina appeared before her, running with their sniper rifles in hand.

"Are you all right?" Low-Light called out.

Lady Jaye waved them off, as if to keep them from getting any closer. She pulled off her gas mask, took a deep breath, and sensed that it was now safe to breathe in the air. She fell, dropping Flint, and lay down on her back beside him.

The snipers slowly approached them, making sure there were no other enemies nearby. The scene was eerily quiet. The Cobras manning the three STUNS were all killed, as were Ripper and Torch, and the small group of French fighters.

Looking up, Lady Jaye could see Low-Light and Daina standing over her.

"So it was you two who saved us," Lady Jaye said, smiling. "Nice shooting there."

Daina smiled. "Don't mention it. It was all Low-Light, though."

Flint woke up and looked to his left, where he saw Lady Jaye lying next to him. The two lovers locked eyes.

"Hey you," Lady Jaye said tenderly.

"Hey," Flint said.

"How do you feel?"

"I have the worst headache you can imagine," Flint answered. His expression grew somber.

"I almost lost you back there. I almost killed you with my own hands. I can't believe what just happened."

"But you were able to resist," Lady Jaye said. "You fought back and won."

"I love you," Flint said. "No mind control gas could take that away from me."

Lady Jaye leaned over and kissed him. Smiling, Daina led Low-Light away.

"Come on," she said to him. "Let the lovers have their moment alone."

There was a tremendous explosion and a flash of brilliant light from the direction of the Eiffel Tower, and everyone turned to look. It appeared as if the whole mid-section of the Tower had blown up in a flower of fire. Within minutes though, the rain stopped, the clouds disappeared, and the morning sun came through once again, almost as if signaling, through nature, the end of the battle.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame – The Next Day

Low-Light found Daina standing at the top of the Notre Dame, next to the gargoyles that overlooked a large courtyard below. To their left was the Seine River that flowed through the heart of Paris. Below them, the Joes could see the French soldiers leading their captive Cobras through the streets to their prisons, along with the Cobra vehicles which would soon be dismantled. It was a beautiful morning.

"We snipers love high places," Daina said as Low-Light joined her. "I think it's a job requirement."

"It's nice up here," Low-Light agreed.

There was a long silence as both watched the people walking around down below.

Finally, Daina spoke up.

"So, what happens now?"

"Well, it's over, isn't it?" Low-Light said. "We won. It's victory in Europe. Time to go home and finish the job."

He was silent for a while, as if struggling to come up with the words. Daina turned to him and smiled with affection. She knew what was on his heart.

"Will you come back with us?" Low-Light blurted out at last.

"We could use your help. You're probably an even better shooter than I am. I'm sure that together, we can return and defeat Cobra once and for all. They'll never be able to come back to Europe or anywhere else in the world, for that matter. We need you, Daina."

Daina looked at him with a probing gaze, as if to say, _go ahead and say it._

"_I_ need you," Low-Light said at last.

"I've been waiting to hear that for a long time," Daina said as Low-Light leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

When he pulled away, he saw that her eyes were closed and her lips were smiling.

"Kiss me again,… Cooper."


	45. The Woman Who Knew Too Much

Lady Jaye walked out to the deck of the ship to join Flint as he leaned against the rail and stared at the stars. The Joes, consisting of Flint, Lady Jaye, Low-Light, Daina, Mainframe, and Zarana, had boarded a small ship which had been provided by their friends in the French resistance.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked her husband.

Flint was thinking about the bitter cold, snowy nights in Saint Petersburg. The long waits along the dark, muddy roads of Prague, waiting to ambush Cobra's lines. The moments of quiet peaceful rest they had stolen away in a nondescript hotel in the suburbs of Munich. Holding his wife's neck in his hands in the frenzied Battle of Paris, under the influence of the mind control gas, with everything in his soul screaming at him not to do it, to fight back… To win.

The celebrations that took place that night in Paris had been unreal. He'd taken Lady Jaye for a walk along the Seine River, and they stood together on one of the small bridges, watching the fireworks light up the sky behind the Notre Dame Cathedral. And that precious moment of beauty had almost made the whole journey seem worth it.

"I was just thinking about our friends at home," Flint answered, not taking his eyes off the starry night sky.

He shivered. They both wore thick coats to warm themselves in the biting night air.

Home. It was so long ago now that they had stood on that train platform, saying goodbye.

Lady Jaye pictured in her mind Shipwreck and Cover Girl. She vividly recalled their last meeting, at the train platform in New York's Grand Central. There had been tears in her eyes that day; everyone doubted that they would ever meet again. Flint and his group were preparing to head off to fight an impossible battle in Europe, while Shipwreck and Cover Girl were headed for an equally insane mission on the other side of the country. But if Shipwreck and Cover Girl had survived their mission to save Mara in Hawaii, then they must now be in Washington, DC, carrying on the fight against Cobra.

The war in Europe was over. Zartan and the Dreadnoks were dead. Cobra's forces in Europe had surrendered in the aftermath of the Battle of Paris. With the Europeans back in control of their own lands, the Joes could turn their attention to matters closer to home…

New York City

Carol Demming stood beneath the awning of the Marriot Marquis Hotel in Times Square. It was a cold, rainy night in the city, and she shivered beneath her trench coat. Her hand trembled as it gripped the umbrella tightly, almost tight enough to feel like she was cutting off the circulation of her hand. The time had come. This was the appointed meeting place. After two weeks of searching, probing, and sending clandestine messages through the underground internet channels, she had managed to arrange a meeting between herself and representatives of G.I. JOE. She wondered how it would turn out. She wondered what they would think when she told them the things that she knew, the things she had been through with Dusty.

Times Square was as bustling as ever, despite the cold, the wind, and the rain. You could lose yourself in this crowd, lose yourself and never be able to come up for air. Everyone moved with a purpose, with swiftness, always fast-paced and direct and never stopping for anyone. She glanced up at the giant telescreens laid out over the buildings lining the square. They all showed the usual ads for cars, movies, TV shows, and clothing lines. The electronic ticker played the usual headlines, interrupting the reporting of sports scores to report the latest glorious Cobra victory, this one having come in a most triumphant battle of Paris.

Carol's cell phone rang, and she picked it up nervously.

"It's you," a female voice said briskly.

Carol looked up and across the street, she saw two people standing under an umbrella on the traffic island on the merging of Seventh Avenue and Broadway. It was a man and woman, from what Carol could tell as she stood with the phone to her ear and watched the couple standing across the street from her.

"Come to us," the woman's voice said. It was Scarlett. Carol realized this, having familiarized herself with the JOE personnel files when she worked for Cobra.

Carol hung up the phone and waited for the light to turn green. The cars streaked by, noisily honking their horns at anyone and anything. People stepped out on the street nearby, aggressively waving down the yellow taxis. It was time to cross. Just as Carol was putting the phone back in her pocket, it rang again.

She had crossed to the other side and now stood in front of Scarlett and Snake Eyes, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, _Lieutenant Deming_," a sinister voice insinuated over the wireless connection.

It was Cobra Commander.

"Who is this?" Carol demanded, pretending not to know.

"I know what you're doing. I know everything. Don't think I forgot about you, after all this time."

Carol felt a chill down to her bones. Scarlett and Snake Eyes only stood nearby, staring at her wordlessly, as if they could tell that something had gone wrong.

"You've never been far from my thoughts. After all, your husband tried to kill me. Am I not entitled to some measure of justice?"

"Where are you? What do you want?"

Carol looked around her, above the heads of the passersby, and she saw the screens around Times Square gradually dissolve into displays of the same image: the image of Cobra Commander. His silver mask gleamed as he gestured at her with his hands.

"I see your baby is growing. I see that you will be giving birth soon," he spoke over the phone.

It was an unmistakable message, a veiled threat at both her and her child.

Carol put her hand over the receiver and whispered to the Joes, "He knows we're here. We have to leave."

"I know what you're thinking," Cobra Commander said. "I know your every move. It will be no use. My agents are on their way to apprehend you at this instant."

Carol looked feverishly to her left and right. A block away, she could see uniformed Cobra agents making their way toward them, from all four directions.

"Enjoy your last moment of freedom."

Carol hung up the phone, and Scarlett grabbed her by the hand.

"Let's go," she urged. They began weaving through the crowd. When the approaching pair of Cobra troops drew close, Scarlett yanked Carol in a different direction, leading them onto the busy street. They broke into a run on 42nd Street, and Snake Eyes brought up the rear. He pulled out a pistol and fired a shot into the air, sending the pedestrians around running in all directions in a panic. This was not something that the Cobras had anticipated. Scarlett, Carol, and Snake Eyes made a run across the street, narrowly escaping being hit by oncoming cars. As Carol passed by a taxi, a bullet whizzed by and struck the car, shattering its rear window. Behind her, Snake Eyes looked back and immediately determined where the sniper's shot had come from. He pulled out his pistol and emptied an entire clip of shots rapidly in that direction, providing them with just enough cover to close the distance to the opposite curb. Three Cobra troops attempted to cut them off, firing indiscriminately at the Joes, hitting several civilians who were in the way. Scarlett, in the lead, fired her handgun at the Cobras, taking them down. She reached down as she passed their bodies and picked up one of their automatic rifles.

Carol felt her lungs burning, and the pain shot up and down her back. It was too much of a strain for her, running like this and having to be pregnant at the same time. The group ran east down 42nd Street and then turned south onto Madison Avenue. Five Cobra Vipers had run from another direction to intercept them and had managed to cut them off.

"Take them down!" Snake Eyes shouted. He pulled Carol near him, and they took cover behind one of the cars parked on the side of the street. Scarlett did the same behind the car in front. The Vipers had set up a roadblock on Madison and 40th, stopping the traffic dead in its tracks. The angry shouts of indignant New Yorkers were soon drowned out by the retorts of gun fire. Scarlett led the way from car to car in the middle of the street, firing short bursts, providing cover for Snake Eyes and Carol to follow. Snake Eyes, checking behind him, spotted two Vipers coming up to flank them, and he shot them down.

The group soon found themselves pinned down by the Vipers in front of them, three of whom remained. Scarlett got down on her knees and shut her eyes as the bullets rattled into the car which she was using as cover. She was showered with shards of shattered glass.

At the moment when things seemed the bleakest, the Vipers' gun fire was abruptly silenced by a grenade explosion, followed by the sound of a few shots being fired. Snake Eyes cautiously looked around the side of the car he was hiding behind and saw, to his delight, Steeler and Clutch in front of them. They had managed to sneak up behind the Vipers and take them down.

"About time!" Scarlett said with a smile.

Clutch and Steeler came running to meet them on the street. They had taken down the roadblock, but traffic remained at a standstill.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Clutch said.

The group of five, having escaped the clutches of Cobra, made haste to vanish into the Manhattan night.

As Carol walked with her new comrades, her thoughts turned to Dusty and the child growing within her.

_Can you believe it, _she thought. _I'm siding with the Joes. For you, Dusty, and for the sake of our child. We're going to make a new world for this child. With the things I know about Cobra, we'll bring them down. Then that world will become a reality. Just like you would have wanted it. I can do this, my darling. You were right about me… you were right._


	46. One Day More

_One day more_

_Another day, another destiny,_

_This never ending road to Calvary…_

_- Les Miserables_

**Washington, DC **

The new day had yet to dawn, but the airfield buzzed with activity. The soldiers, all of them dressed in black with red Cobra insignias on their sleeves and gold-colored masks, were busily engaged in loading their bombers and transport planes with equipment and weaponry. An electric current seemed to run through the atmosphere. This day, the men were told, would be _the_ day. The day when Cobra would belong to Destro, and their domination would be complete.

"Load those parachutes faster! We must be ready in fifteen minutes!" the voice of an officer could be heard above the din of activity.

Destro strode through the columns of soldiers as they ran back and forth along the runways. All eyes went to their leader, and the crowd grew silent, as if expecting him to speak some commandment from The Lord Himself.

He decided to oblige them.

"Soldiers of Destro!" he bellowed through a loudspeaker.

He held the army's full attention. There were at least five hundred men and women on the field at that time.

"We shall be committing all of our forces in an all-out attack on Cobra Commander's Manhattan fortress. Cobra Commander must not be allowed to exploit the technology that he stole from us. If we do not act now, all that we have worked for will be lost. Do not lose heart. Remember, all of you, _we are the true soldiers of Cobra!_ Win this battle and we shall once again attain our rightful domination of this planet!"

The army erupted into wild applause.

"Hail Destro! Hail Cobra! Down with Cobra Commander!"

Beneath his steel mask, their leader smiled with bloodthirsty anticipation.

**Hoboken, New Jersey**

Earlier that night, in an abandoned public school somewhere in this small town of New Jersey, the G.I. JOE team was reunited again for the first time in nearly eight months. So much had happened in those eight months and so many things had changed that each member felt wildly out of the loop of events.

But before there were any explanations, there was the long-awaited release of built up emotion.

Lady Jaye walked over to Cover Girl and gave her a big hug. She turned to Shipwreck and did the same thing.

"I'm so glad to see the two of you are all right," she said, with tears in her eyes.

Shipwreck found his hand being pumped enthusiastically by Flint in a tight handshake.

"By God, you old sailor, you crazy fool, you actually went to Hawaii and made it all the way back."

"Well look at you, there," Shipwreck replied, "you big resistance leader, you."

"You're a regular Charles de Gaulle," Cover Girl said admiringly.

Everyone in the room laughed.

"And how about you, Computer Guy?" Shipwreck said to Mainframe, shaking his hand and embracing him.

"You actually went along with Flint and managed not to get yourself killed."

"I saved his ass quite a few times," Zarana joked.

"Who saved who's ass?" Mainframe said as he playfully pinched his love on the arm. They were briefly reminded of that time in Saint Petersburg.

There was, of course, the core of Shipwreck and Cover Girl, along with the Joes who had returned from Europe, Flint, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, and Zarana. They were the ones who had survived the fatal battle of Washington, DC, and the subsequent disastrous attempted assassination of Cobra Commander at the Washington fortress. For Shipwreck and Cover Girl, the sight of Low-Light was a shock. Low-Light was dead, wasn't he? It was revealed that he had indeed been killed, and this Low-Light standing before them was a clone that had been created by Cobra Commander and who had turned to the Joe side. With him was his fellow sniper and now lover, the lone surviving member of the Oktober Guard, Daina.

Those who had returned from Europe were totally unaware of the dramatic events that had taken place in Washington, DC, after they had left. Steeler, Grunt, and Clutch had all crossed over from an alternate reality. The Baroness, falling in love again with Steeler, had defected to the Joe side, and had taken with her the loyal adjuvant, Layla. Then, last but not least, were Scarlett and Snake Eyes, whom the Baroness had brought back with her after a brief trip to another alternate world. Last, but not least, was the widow of Dusty, Carol Demming, who had recently been rescued from Cobra by Scarlett and Snake Eyes after a shootout in Times Square.

Flint blinked in confusion and took a seat at one of the desks in the classroom where the reunion was taking place. Lady Jaye gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa," Flint said after he had finished hearing everyone's story, "It's going to take a pretty long time for me to absorb all of this."

He looked at Steeler, Grunt, Clutch, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes.

"Looking at you, it's like you guys returned from the dead," he added.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but this is _not_ Snake Eyes," Shipwreck said, walking over to Snake Eyes, who stood at the far end of the room, near Scarlett.

"You don't say?" Snake Eyes said with a sardonic grin.

"Snake Eyes without the mask? Snake Eyes actually talking? Who is this guy?"

"Weird shit happens in alternate universes, let me tell you," Steeler said.

Flint smiled as he looked around the room. When he had left for Europe, the Joes consisted only of himself, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, Zarana, Shipwreck, and Cover Girl. Now their numbers had more than doubled. He felt a newfound confidence stirring in his breast. With this group, surely they could take on Cobra once again, and win this time.

There was much laughter and joviality that evening as the group shared their first meal together as a team. After the time of reunion and fellowship, however, it was time to get down to business.

All eyes turned to Carol Demming as she stood at the front of the classroom, like a teacher about to give a lesson to her students. No one could possibly overlook the fact that she was now nearly eight months pregnant, and the bulge of her abdomen was unmistakable. She would give birth soon. The only question was: what kind of world would this child come into?

Carol's voice shook with emotion.

"I know that I'm the newest addition to the group. I barely know any of you. And I know that some of you may find it difficult to trust me."

She looked at Flint, and for a second, there was a flash of recognition on both sides. It was of a distant memory of a time of pain and bloodshed. Flint was reminded of that time so long ago, when he had lain wounded in a crater next to his dead brothers, and Dusty had stood over his body, pointing a pistol at his head. A woman had stood next to him.

"_Are you afraid to shoot your own brothers?"_

"_Dusty, we have to get out of here now. Finish him and let's get moving!"_

"It's you," Flint said under his breath.

"I loved Dusty with all of my heart," Carol said. "And it was for my sake that he stayed in Cobra instead of returning to the G.I. JOE team. Dusty died for me. He died to open my eyes to everything that was wrong with Cobra. He opened my heart to the world. He gave me a dream to live for, for the sake of the child we created. He died to protect that dream.

"For the rest of my life, I shall honor the man who was my husband. I won't ever forget him or the promise that we made to one another. Before I left Cobra, there was a terrible secret project that Cobra Commander was beginning to undertake. He did this with technology that he actually stole from Destro. This is actually one of the reasons why Destro has persisted in his war against Cobra Commander, to recapture that lost technology and prevent Cobra Commander from using it for his own purposes."

The room was deathly silent for a moment.

Then, finally, Shipwreck spoke up.

"Secret project? Lost technology? This is news to us. What in hell are you talking about? What is this secret project that Cobra Commander has been doing, that Destro wants so badly?"

"The ability to travel through time," Carol answered.

Everyone in the room was stunned by this revelation.

Time travel?

"Impossible," Mainframe declared.

"Yeah," Clutch said, "that's just crazy."

"Is it really so hard to believe?" Carol said. "We have already seen that Cobra has the ability to manipulate the weather and create huge lightning storms at a whim. They have the ability to transform ordinary insects into horrific agents of biological warfare."

"Yeah, no kidding," Steeler said, vividly remembering his unpleasant experience with an insect bite that had rendered him totally delirious and nearly killed him.

Carol continued, "They have the ability to control even the strongest willed with mind control gas. They can create clones that are virtually identical to the original. We saw that it is now possible to open gateways to parallel worlds. Look around the room for the evidence of that.

"The ability to manipulate space by opening up gateways to alternate realities is a powerful one. No one knew for sure that it could even be done. No one even knew that parallel worlds existed. Surely, the ability to manipulate time, to control time, to travel through time, cannot be far behind. It can no longer be considered an impossible dream, a mere piece of mad fantasy.

"We stand," Carol said, pacing the room before the Joes, "at a critical moment in the history of humanity. We have somehow gained the ability to manipulate time and space. We have opened up a whole new universe of possibility. With the powers they have gained, nothing will be beyond Cobra's reach. All of time and space, all of reality, will be under their power. This world has somehow become an intersection of all of time and space. All roads will lead here. It will become the place where worlds begin. And it will become _the place where worlds end_.

"Can you imagine what would happen if Cobra Commander gained the ability to travel through time? Why, he could send agents into any point in the past and kill off any and all potential rivals to his power. If he sent someone to kill your mothers, we would all be finished."

"Not to mention the millions of possible side effects that would result from such an intervention," Mainframe noted.

"Exactly," Carol said.

"How do you know all this?" Scarlett said.

"I was one of the highest ranking lieutenants in Cobra. I was one of the supervisors of the project before I left. This is why Cobra Commander is so anxious to have me killed. I know too much. The project by now is surely dangerously close to completion."

"Then that must be why," Scarlett said, "Destro is launching an all-out attack at the break of dawn tomorrow. He's putting all his cards on the table this time."

Flint stood up and joined Carol at the front of the room.

"Then we must also attack at the break of dawn tomorrow," he announced.

"What? Are you for real?" Grunt said.

"Think about it," Flint said. "This is the perfect opportunity. With Destro committing all of his forces, Cobra Commander will be distracted. His security forces won't be able to maintain the usual level of vigilance. We'll use Destro's attack as a diversion to penetrate Cobra Commander's Manhattan fortress and destroy the time travel threat."

There was a long moment of silence as each Joe in the room pondered the thought of impending battle. Once again--into the breach.

"Maybe we'll take out the Commander while we're at it," Shipwreck said with bloodthirsty anticipation.

Later that night, each of the Joes retired to their separate rooms to get some rest before the time would come for them to leave for Manhattan.

Shipwreck entered the small room he would share with Cover Girl. It was one of the smaller classrooms, and they had cleared a space for the sleeping bag the two of them would share.

Cover Girl saw him take off his shirt and pants and climb into bed with her. Beneath the blanket, she wore nothing but an undershirt and a pair of panties.

"Make love to me," she whispered, and the two of lovers engaged in their ritual of kissing, touching, and sucking, before Shipwreck, his member throbbing with arousal and no longer able to contain himself, entered Cover Girl. He kissed her and held her tight as they found sexual release within each other.

When they were done, the lovers separated and lay side by side, a post-coital glow hovering about them. Cover Girl propped up her head against her elbow on the floor and caressed Shipwreck's hairy chest.

"I love you," Cover Girl said.

"And I love you, Courtney. I don't care if I say it every day for the rest of my life. It will never get old for me. But you know that already."

Cover Girl smiled.

"There's something I need to tell you," she said seriously.

"What is it?"

"I think I might be pregnant."

Shipwreck was silent for a while. He looked at her wide-eyed.

"Are you sure?"

"I have a strong feeling," she said.

Shipwreck swallowed hard. To hear something like this was like a dream come true. They would start a family together. They would soon live the life together that they had always longed for. Together. But at a time like this? It was the eve of the greatest fight of their lives. This only raised the stakes, made them that much higher. As if they weren't fighting for enough already. He struggled with his response as the emotions swirled about his heart, emotions of joy, fear, and resolve all mixed into one.

"Yes?"

"That's wonderful. Oh my God," Hector said. He rolled over in bed on top of Cover Girl, and kissed her tenderly again and again.

"Just promise me one thing," Cover Girl said between passionate kisses.

"What's that?"

"Don't get yourself killed tomorrow."

"Huh, I think you're the one who's going to have to worry about not getting _yourself_ killed tomorrow."

"Is that so? Is this your typical macho manliness talking? Sounds like the old big-mouthed Shipwreck I used to know, before he fell in love with me and got all sensitive and all that."

Shipwreck smiled. "We're going to make it, Courtney. We're going to make it for the sake of our friends. For the sake of the two of us. For the sake of our baby and the family we'll build together."

_For the sake of the whole world._

**On the PATH Train to Manhattan Penn Station**

Shipwreck looked across the aisle at Flint and Lady Jaye. Next to him, he held Cover Girl's hand tightly. In the next train over, the rest of the Joes sat in quiet anticipation. The trains were light at that hour. The work rush had yet to begin.

"This is it," he whispered to Cover Girl.

It was a matter of time before they would reach Penn Station. From there, they would continue on their way to downtown Manhattan, where they would arm themselves and infiltrate Cobra headquarters in force.

That was the plan, anyway.

**Over the Hudson River Near Ellis Island**

Wild Weasel's black-painted Rattler was in the lead, with Destro's own similarly colored plane at his wing. The Rattlers led an enormous squadron of bombers, transport vessels, and attack fighters, all of them painted black as night.

"We're coming up on the Statue of the Baroness," Wild Weasel's voice came up over the squadron radio.

It meant that the Cobra fortress of Lower Manhattan could not be far behind.

"Looks like the welcoming party is here," Wild Weasel reported, glancing at the multitude of dots on his radar and glancing ahead at the myriad of small dots in his visual field. Cobra Commander had sent out his own fleet to destroy them before they could get close enough to become a threat. It was only a matter of time now before the dance of death would take place in the skies.

_But it won't work, my dear Commander_, Destro mused to himself.

"Your reign over Cobra will soon be ended."

Author's Notes:

- The incident between Carol Demming and Flint took place waaay back in Chapter 4

- I've been wanting to insert the title of this story somewhere into the story for a long time. I thought about doing it in Chapter 30, at the end of Part I, but couldn't find a good context. Finally, in Chapter 46, the full meaning of this story's title is revealed. Prior to this chapter, it had a vague connotation of the world ending because Cobra conquered it, but now it gains a new meaning. Not bad for a title I came up with 3 1/2 years ago on the fly.

- I believe this story will be completed by mid-summer. I already know how the story will end. Just need to get psyched up enough to write it. That's how I operate. I write a chapter, post it, and then don't write for like 1-2 months, just think about it, and then I'll sit down and write the whole chapter in 3 hours.

- See you again in a few weeks.


	47. The Stand

The battle between the forces of Destro and Cobra Commander raged throughout the city as the group of Joes emerged from Penn Station to find the streets in disarray. Cobra officers ran through the streets heading toward downtown Manhattan, and their HISS tanks and STUN vehicles led the way. The citizens of New York, heeding the orders from the Cobra officers, made haste to get out of the way. Overhead, a Rattler plane passed over flying at low altitude. Along the streets, anti aircraft guns had been set up to counter Destro's attack planes.

The group of Joes, led by Carol Demming, Flint, and Lady Jaye, followed the Cobras down toward the main Cobra fortress, which they could see rising above the other buildings before them. Flint, knowing the Joes were only lightly armed, was keeping his eyes open for an opportunity to seize some of Cobra's weapons. He found it when he spotted two Cobra Motor Vipers standing next to an idle STUN vehicle. The STUN had several automatic rifles propped up on one of the front passenger seats. Flint ran ahead of the group, weaving between the civilians who were busy running for shelter, and he pulled out a pistol in each hand. He leapt out from behind a civilian he was using as cover and unloaded three bullets each into the surprised Motor Vipers.

"Come on!" Flint shouted to the others, who ran up to catch up with him.

When the Joes reached Flint's newly commandeered STUN vehicle, they each received an automatic rifle, loaded and ready to use.

"We gotta stick together," Flint urged his comrades as they each looked to one another. "There's a lot of crazy stuff going down right now, and we have to take advantage of it. The target is about twenty blocks south from here. Stay close, don't fall behind, and we'll make it there soon. We'll get there and figure out the next step."

The Joes looked to their leader and nodded. Above them, a damaged Rattler, flames streaking from one of its engines, streaked overhead and spiraled down, crashing into one of the buildings about 10 blocks to the north.

The Cobra Fortress

Having cleared the airspace above the Cobra Fortress, Destro's Rattlers circled above to make a landing. With Firefly and Wild Weasel providing cover, Destro took his plane low into the open courtyard, firing the last of his missiles at the anti-aircraft gun emplacements near the main tower. He brought his engines into vertical position and made a quick landing. Firefly and Wild Weasel followed suit, landing their planes in the courtyard as well.

Destro looked upward with satisfaction and saw a score of paratroopers coming down on his position as well. While the rest of his army kept Cobra occupied in the skies, he would lead a deadly force of his own deep into the heart of the Cobra fortress, with the goal of nothing less than the complete destruction of Cobra Commander.

"Quickly," Destro urged his comrades. "We must move quickly if the fortress is to be ours!"

With a rallying cry for Destro, the partisans ran to the main entrance.

The Main Tower – Top

At the top of the Cobra tower, the Commander was engaged in a serious activity of his own. He was at the moment indifferent to the advances of Destro and his partisans. What engaged his full attention was the final stage of the time travel device. The time travel machine was an enormous monstrosity, occupying a height of two stories. It was a large cylindrical mass of metal, circuits, and wires, all connected into the master computer at the top level of a spiraling network of thin wire staircases and catwalks. Huge power cables were plugged into the base of the machine.

Cobra Commander received the latest report of the battle from one of his Tele Vipers.

"Commander," the Viper said, "Destro's forces have landed and entered the building."

Cobra Commander gave a loud hiss of displeasure and turned to the cadre of scientists busily engaged in activating the machine at the top level of the device.

"Hurry, you fools! We must activate the device immediately!"

"Ten minutes to complete the final diagnostic," the head scientist reported.

Outside the Fortress Walls

Daina and Low-Light panted, breathless, as they ran up the stairs of the office building that stood just across the street from the exterior of the fortress. After twelve flights of stairs, they were finally on the roof. Low-Light pulled out his walkie talkie.

"We are in position," he said, "over."

Next to him, Daina pulled out her binoculars and scanned the streets below. In the bushes around the fortress wall, the rest of the group lay in wait, waiting for the signal to fire their grappling hook guns up the wall, which would allow them to quickly scale the wall into the ramparts.

Low-Light pulled out his sniper rifle and briefly considered the fortress walls across from him. A brief, painful memory flashed into his head. It was the memory of an earlier battle, in which he and Beach Head had been acting as snipers from that very rampart wall, trying to take out the Cobras in the courtyard on the other side with precision fire. There had been a fierce gun battle, and he remembered Beach Head practically throwing him over the edge of the wall, the quick rappel down to the ground, punctuated by a short free fall at the end. Then a rendezvous with Mainframe and Zarana, a desperate car chase—and then—darkness.

That was then.

Things would be different this time.

This time, they would succeed.

"Left, at 10 o' clock," Daina called out, throwing down her binoculars and grabbing her weapon at the ready.

Low-Light heard, and he saw the enemy as well. Two Viper soldiers heading in the direction of Flint and Lady Jaye. Two shots to the head, two kills.

"You're clear, you're clear," Daina called into the walkie talkie.

With that signal, the Joes below, Flint, Lady Jaye, the Baroness, Layla, Grunt, Steeler, Clutch, Cover Girl, Shipwreck, Mainframe, Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Carol Demming, all took shots at the top of the rampart wall. In unison, the grappling hooks attached to long ropes shot out from the ground, and the Joes began the ascent to the top of the wall.

To the right, on the street below, Daina saw a squad of Crimson Guards running back to the fortress, in the direction of the wall the Joes were scaling at that moment.

"You heard the order," the lead Guardsman said. "Everyone fall back to the main base."

There was an explosion down below, a mortar shell having struck nearby, and two Guardsmen were hit, leaving six more. The leader of the squad saw the Joes nearing the top of their climb, and he pulled up his rifle.

"G.I. JOE!" he cried. "Stop them!"

Before he could squeeze off a shot, he was struck in the head by a shot from Low-Light.

One of the Crimson Guards managed to open fire at the Joes as they neared the top of their climb, striking Steeler in the shoulder. He nearly lost his grip and fell off the wall, but Layla was just two feet away and managed to reach out and grab him, holding him steady.

"Cover them!" Low-Light shouted to his partner, and the both of them fired simultaneously, each of them hitting and killing another pair of enemy soldiers.

One Crimson Guard soldier was carrying a rocket launcher. Realizing that they were taking sniper fire, and where the fire was coming from, he instinctively aimed his weapon at the rooftop where he could see the glint of two sniper scopes and their shooters, and he pressed the trigger.

"RPG!" Daina hollered in alarm.

Before she could even move, Low-Light had already taken action. He threw down his rifle, and, turning toward her, tackled her to the ground, as the rocket grenade hit, showering them with blistering concrete and shrapnel.

Daina was briefly out, but when she awoke, she found Low-Light on top of her. She gently rolled him off and saw that he was injured. A piece of shrapnel was lodged in his chest.

As if in reflex, Daina grabbed her rifle again, quickly checked the street below as well as the wall of the other side of the street, and saw that the Joes were clear, and that the Crimson Guard troops had moved on. She turned her attention back to Low-Light.

"Cooper?"

The alarm grew in her face and voice as she realized that the man she had grown to love was in danger of actually dying.

Low-Light's eyes opened.

"Hey, sweetheart," he whispered. Blood trickled down his lips.

"Why'd you have to go and do that for?" she said gently, her voice breaking. "You big fool."

"I died once," Low-Light whispered.

It was as if all the sound and fury of the battle on the streets below them had fallen away, and there was nothing in the world except the two snipers who had been brought together by a caprice of fate.

"You brought me back to life," Low-Light said.

Daina began to cry.

"Don't say things like that. It's not time for us to say goodbye. Why, we've hardly gotten started, all the things we have to do."

"It's all right, Daina," Low-Light said tenderly, reaching out with his hand to stroke her cheek. Daina took Low-Light's hand in her own and closed her eyes.

"You gave me a reason to live," Low-Light said.

"Thank you."

With that, Low-Light slipped away. And in that instant, Daina remembered all the things that had happened between them in the brief time they had known each other, from their encounter in an interrogation room in Saint Petersburg, to the intense sniper duel in the snow covered streets, to the battles across western Europe they had participated in together. They had been a fine team, the two snipers who, together, could not be beat. In the time they had worked together, they had formed a bond, a deep personal connection, culminating in their first kiss in Paris after their triumph in Europe.

The memories hit Daina in a flood, and she broke down in tears.

"I love you," she sobbed inconsolably.

The walkie talkie came to life at her side, after a few moments of silence.

"Daina? Low-Light? You there? Come in."

Daina reached for the walkie talkie with hesitation.

"Daina here."

It was Mainframe.

"We saw the RPG hit your position. Are you both okay?"

"We lost Low-Light," Daina said.

There was a shocked silence on the other end.

"Can't believe he's gone," Mainframe said.

"What should I do?" Daina said.

"Listen," Flint's voice came on. "You both covered our entrance. You did a good job. We're in. Leave the rest to us. Meet us at the rendezvous point after it's over. I don't suggest you try to make it into the fortress on your own."

"What if you don't succeed?" Daina said.

"We must succeed," Flint said simply.


	48. Duel of the Fates

The Joe team raced through the corridors of the fortress, with Scarlett and Snake Eyes in the lead, surprising and cutting down the Vipers who stood in their way. Directed by Carol Demming, the Joes were making rapid progress toward the main tower. The Cobra fortress was set up as a square formation, with a large tower at each corner, each connected by large walls, and at the far end, located along the middle of the north wall, the main tower stood above the other towers, with a gleaming snake head at its peak.

Snake Eyes and Scarlett, each of them wielding silenced pistols, had just finished off another pair of guards, who were shot down before they could even respond to the threat, when they were greeted by an unwelcome sight.

Standing between the Joes and the corridor leading to the main tower was Storm Shadow. He reached behind and unsheathed a ninja katana.

"Quick! Keep moving!" Scarlett cried. "We'll deal with him!"

With that, Scarlett took out the crossbow she had slung to her back, and Snake Eyes produced a sword as well. The two of them approached their lone adversary.

Flint grabbed Carol by the shoulder as the Joes stood a few feet behind Scarlett and Snake Eyes.

"There isn't much time," Flint said. "Is there an alternate route?"

Carol looked at Layla, then the Baroness, before coming up with the answer.

"Follow me," Carol said, turning around, "we'll backtrack a bit, turn left, and take the lift up three levels to 13."

"Come on, let's do it," Steeler said, standing next to the Baroness and putting a hand on his lover's shoulder. His left shoulder had been hastily bandaged, and a small amount of blood showed through the dressing.

The Joes, with Carol Demming in the lead, turned and headed for the alternate route.

"What about Scarlett and Snake Eyes?" Carol asked Flint as they ran in the lead.

"They're both strong enough to handle this. They'll know where to find us. Don't you worry about them," Flint replied.

The room where the face-off among Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow was a bare one. At one end were the elevators that the Joes were originally going to take, which would lead to yet another set of winding corridors that would eventually lead to their ultimate destination. On the floor near the other end of the room was the corridor from which Scarlett and Snake Eyes had just emerged, with a pair of dead Vipers on the floor in pools of their own blood.

"So, we meet at last," Storm Shadow said, his inscrutable eyes piercing out from behind his pale white ninja mask.

"I had believed," Storm Shadow said, "that you both were dead."

"Oh, we were dead," Scarlett said, "but we've come back."

"Don't stand in our way, Tommy," Snake Eyes said

Storm Shadow turned to Snake Eyes and stared at him in shock.

"You know my name," he said.

"Yeah, I do," Snake Eyes said.

"How is that possible? How are you even able to speak?"

Snake Eyes regarded his adversary calmly, while a whirlwind of turbulent memories churned in his head. Memories of Vietnam, and the missions they had done together. He had saved Storm Shadow's life one time. They called him Tommy back then. He had been hit, and Snake Eyes went back to save him. They had been like blood brothers. Then the war ended, and Cobra had emerged on the scene, and the friends' loyalties had been divided. Storm Shadow had gone over to Cobra, and Snake Eyes had never forgiven him.

"Where I come from," Snake Eyes said, "we know each other very well."

"Oh, I see," Storm Shadow said at last. "I see that this is the result of the Matter Transmutation Device."

"You're a smart man," Snake Eyes said.

"A dangerous one, too," Storm Shadow said, raising his sword. "For the last time, turn back or face certain death."

Snake Eyes charged. At the same time, Scarlett raised her crossbow and fired at Storm Shadow. Storm Shadow expertly swung his sword in an upward motion, deflecting the arrow upward, causing it to miss his head by inches. Snake Eyes closed in with his sword, and, raising it to strike downward, brought it crashing down. Storm Shadow raised his sword, and, with both hands, parried the blow above his head. Scarlett, throwing down her crossbow, reached down and pulled out a combat knife in each hand. She raced in to join the battle.

Storm Shadow, recovering from the force of Snake Eyes' attack, unleashed a vicious side thrust kick into Snake Eyes' mid-abdomen, and the Joe momentarily doubled back, losing control of his sword. Storm Shadow launched into a lunging motion, intending to impale Snake Eyes through the gut, but Scarlett intervened just in time, using her crossed knives to catch the sword above her head as she lunged toward the Cobra ninja. Sweeping her right foot across the floor, she caught Storm Shadow's heel and sent him falling backward. Snake Eyes, recovering, saw that Scarlett was busily engaged with her adversary just a few feet in front of him, jumping and ducking, barely managing to dodge his vicious sword attacks. Scarlett, managing to elude another forward thrust, countered with a quick knife slice that caught Storm Shadow's right hand. He howled in pain and dropped his sword, but not before he unleashed a pair of shuriken from his opposite hand that caught Scarlett deep in the abdomen. It was Scarlett's turn to shriek in pain as she crumbled to the floor.

Snake Eyes, enraged, leapt into the fray with his sword drawn, and, passing Scarlett's prostrate form, brought his sword crashing down on Storm Shadow. Storm Shadow, for his part, managed to pick up his sword with his good hand and parried the blow above his head, again. Snake Eyes, with two hands on the sword handle, glared down at his opponent. He pressed down with oppressive force, and Storm Shadow, with just one arm holding his sword up, felt himself weakening.

"If Scarlett dies…" Snake Eyes said, with fury in his eyes.

"If she dies, what?" Storm Shadow sneered up at the Joe martial artist.

Storm Shadow saw the truth in that moment.

"You love her," he said in a low voice.

Scarlett, dazed and in pain, lay on the floor on her side, her hands clutching her injured belly. Her ears perked up at those secret words.

_You love her._

"Yes, I love her," Snake Eyes said out loud, shocking himself and Scarlett.

With that, Snake Eyes rapidly brought his sword around beneath Storm Shadow's, catching the blade at the handle and sending it flying through the air, landing tip first in the floor, ten yards away. Snake Eyes held Storm Shadow's throat at sword point.

Breathing hard, Snake Eyes said, "All these years, I was afraid to tell her. Afraid of rejection. Afraid that she would choose Duke over me. Even more afraid that she would choose me over Duke."

"You were afraid," Storm Shadow said.

"I was afraid to… let myself be loved by her," Snake Eyes said, as if oblivious to Scarlett's presence.

Scarlett staggered to her feet and trudged slowly toward her friend.

"Afraid… that you might be forever changed," Scarlett said, breaking the silence.

"Kill me," Storm Shadow said, gingerly holding his wounded right hand.

"I've been shamed by my defeat. Finish me, please. It is your right as the victor."

"In another world," Snake Eyes said, "you and I were brothers. But you dishonored yourself and turned to evil. And that broke my heart."

Storm Shadow looked upward, meeting his eyes. He did not understand what Snake Eyes was saying. Never had they had the kind of close relationship that Snake Eyes had implied. But something spoke to him, a part of himself he never knew existed, leading him to believe that perhaps the things Snake Eyes spoke of were true.

"I will not kill you," Snake Eyes said, throwing down the sword. "Leave this place. Leave Cobra, and don't come back. When you regain your honor, perhaps we shall meet again."

Snake Eyes, with Scarlett at his side, watched Storm Shadow as he staggered to his feet. Walking over to his sword, Storm Shadow pulled it out of the floor and sheathed his blade. Nodding to the Joes, Storm Shadow walked down the hall from with the Joes had come, fading away, not once looking back.

Scarlett grunted as she fell to her knees. Fortunately, Snake Eyes was there to catch her as she fell. He held his dear friend in his arms.

"God," Scarlett said, "what a rookie job I pulled there, getting stabbed in the stomach with those ninja stars."

Snake Eyes laid her gently on the floor.

"I need to take a look at your wounds," he said, reaching down to Scarlett's uniform where the blood stains showed through. Scarlett nodded, grimacing in pain as Snake Eyes gently tore the lower part of her shirt open and saw the two stab wounds. They both appeared to have penetrated deep into her abdominal wall muscles, but that was the extent of their penetration. There was no peritoneal injury, no injury to visceral organs.

"You'll be fine," Snake Eyes smiled.

"Yeah?" Scarlett said. "I don't feel fine."

"Here, I'll bandage the wounds."

Snake Eyes pulled out some bandages from a side pocket and wrapped the tape several times around her abdomen. He did the work in silence, and Scarlett watched him, also in silence. She reached up with her hands and hooked her arms around Snake Eyes' neck, bringing his head in close to hers.

"Do you love me?" she said.

Snake Eyes nodded, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry you suffered so long. I'm sorry it took so long for me to see it."

Scarlett pulled in Snake Eyes for a passionate kiss, the first of many to come.

"I love you," she whispered.

After the moment had passed, the two slowly got to their feet. Snake Eyes supported Scarlett by grabbing one of her arms and bringing it around his shoulders as they walked together, heading forward toward the common destination.

"Wait," Scarlett said.

She stopped and, reaching into one of her pants pockets, pulled out the small gun that was the Matter Transmutation Device. It was her and Snake Eyes' only way of returning home, to home as only the two of them knew it. It was the proto-type, there was no other working device. It was a world where she and Duke were lovers, where Snake Eyes suffered in loneliness, and where Cobra had not succeeded in conquering the world.

"It must be destroyed," Scarlett said.

"Are you sure? Once we do it, there's no going back." Snake Eyes cautioned.

"We passed the point of no return a long time ago."

Scarlett dropped the weapon to the floor and crushed it with one blow of her boot heel. The weapon shattered into a thousand metal and plastic fragments.

"This world is ours now. No matter what happens, we'll make it through together." Scarlett said tenderly.

"Yes," Snake Eyes said as they walked forward to join their teammates, "together."


	49. End Game

"Mainframe," Flint said into his headset as he and Carol Demming led the team down the maze of dark corridors.

"Mainframe here," came the response on Flint's headset.

Flint looked up at the ceiling and saw the markings.

"We are in Section 9," he said. "Disable the security cameras in this section."

"On it," Mainframe said.

About fifteen minutes earlier, the group had located a security station and killed the guards who were manning it. Mainframe, finding a suitable place to set up camp, took the station over, with Zarana to watch his back. He now had access to all the security computers in the entire fortress.

Within two minutes, the fluorescent lights that illuminated the hallway flickered, went out for a second, and then came back on. The four security cameras that lined the long passageway lay inactive, their power cut.

"Let's go!" Flint said to the rest of his team, and they all took off running down the corridor.

"Which way, now?" Flint asked Carol.

They had come to another intersection of identical appearing passageways.

"We go right," Carol said. "One hundred meters down this hall will take us straight to the device—"

"Then let's not waste any time!" Lady Jaye cried as she followed Flint and Carol.

There was a pair of Crimson Guards at the far end of the hallway. They charged forward to meet the Joes as they approached, firing their rifles and hollering for help. Lady Jaye launched a bomb tipped javelin at them, and the explosion knocked them both out.

The Joes were abruptly stopped, when, twenty meters before the end of the passage, a violent explosion rocked the hallway, and an entire section of the right wall exploded into the passageway. When the smoke cleared, the Joes saw who they were facing: Destro and Firefly.

The passageway seemed to lead directly to an enormous cylindrical chamber. Destro and Firefly stood in the way of the entry. For a moment, the two groups of fighters were locked in a standoff, with Destro, Firefly, and six partisans on one side, and the Joes, comprised of Flint, Lady Jaye, Shipwreck, Cover Girl, the Baroness, Layla, Carol Demming, Grunt, Clutch, and Steeler, on the other.

"Drop your weapons now!" Flint said, leading the way, his rifle held aimed at Destro's head as he slowly advanced. The Joes were just twenty meters away and closing on Destro and his men. Both sides held their guns trained on the other. Between them lay nothing but the bodies of several dead Crimson Guardsmen and the large chunks of shredded metal that had ripped open as a result of Destro's bomb explosion.

"Don't think for a minute you will win this fight," Destro sneered. "In a little while, I will soon overthrow Cobra Commander and assume complete control of the Cobra Empire. You Joes are nothing but insects in the way."

His eyes fell on the Baroness, standing a short distance behind Flint, also holding up a rifle.

"Ah, so _you've_ come as well," he said in a voice filled with hatred.

For a moment in time, the two forces were at a standstill, and the Joes halted their advance. Flint felt a drop of sweat forming on his forehead. What now? He felt this situation was eerily familiar to one he had faced before, when he had stood in a pit with Cobra's standing over them, both sides with their guns trained on the other. All it took was the drop of a pin, a single shout, a nervous trigger finger, and the tension would be broken…

Then, suddenly, a loud crackle of electricity emanated from within the giant closed chamber, where the time machine was being activated by Cobra Commander. It was all that was needed to remind both sides of what they were fighting for.

Destro unleashed a pair of small rockets from his metallic wristbands at the ceiling right above the Joes, showering them with dust and debris, temporarily blinding them as they opened fire in unison at their foes. In that confused instant, Firefly and Destro's soldiers opened fire at the Joes.

"Take cover! Take cover!" came Flint's frantic cries, and after the initial salvo, the Joes did their best to find what limited cover they could find in the littered hallway. They found cover behind shattered crates and large chunks of broken concrete and steel from the blown out wall.

Meanwhile, Firefly and Destro, using the cover of their troops, were busy finding a way to blow open the sealed entrance to the time travel machine chamber, methodically placing C4 charges at set intervals along the doorway.

On the Joe side, Flint saw that they had taken injuries, but nothing serious. Grunt, Clutch, and Steeler had all taken flesh wounds to their arms and legs and were, for all intents and purposes, disabled from the battle. Flint looked up over the edge of the large steel plate he was using as cover and saw that there were two remaining partisan troops.

"Cut them down!" he shouted, and before he could say another word, two rifle shots rang out behind him.

Flint and the others were momentarily stunned, not aware of anyone having come up behind them.

Several meters behind their position, Flint could see Daina near Snake Eyes and Scarlett, holding up her smoking sniper rifle. With those two pulls of the trigger, from a kneeling position, she had taken down both of the enemy troops with head shots. Standing apart from Snake Eyes for the first time since she had been wounded, Scarlett, her abdomen bandaged and bloody, took aim with her crossbow and sent a single arrow stinging through the air.

It landed in Firefly's back, just as he was about to turn and run from the door, and he crumpled. Destro had already cleared the door, and the C4 charges went off, sending a shockwave down the hallway.

"Everyone, move forward!" Flint shouted, leading the way, after he had ordered Layla to stay behind with the wounded Grunt, Clutch, and Steeler.

With Firefly down on the floor, wounded, and Destro also lying motionless on the opposite side of the blown doorway, the Joes charged forward. There were no more enemy soldiers in the way, nothing stood now between them and the ultimate goal. Behind those doors stood Cobra Commander, their final nemesis. Behind those doors lay the machine that had to be destroyed, the machine that Cobra Commander considered the key to his final victory.

Flint was in the lead, about to race through the last stretch, through the smoke emanating from the blown door, when he felt Destro tackle him to the ground, knocking him backward.

The rest of the Joes heard Destro take down Flint, but none of them could see them through the smoke.

There was a sharp cry of pain which gave all the Joes pause.

"Hurry!" the Joes heard Flint urge. "Keep moving! I'll deal with Destro!"

"Come on, come on!" Shipwreck shouted, after a moment of hesitation. He ran onward, through the thick smoke emanating from the burning entrance. Cover Girl followed close behind, and then went Carol Demming, the Baroness, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes. Lady Jaye, concerned for her husband, however, hung back, not entering the final room, trying to make out what was happening between Flint and Destro.

Destro had stabbed Flint in the thigh with a combat knife. The two foes, temporarily blinded to what was happening around them by the dark smoke, wrestled on the floor, engaged in a mortal struggle, each one desperately trying to gain the upper hand over the other and kill him.

"Die, you son of a bitch!" Flint cried as he unsheathed his own knife and tried to stab Destro through the heart. Destro caught his hand in a vise like grip, though, and managed to twist it viciously, gradually forcing Flint to drop his knife. Destro's other hand was pressing down on Flint's chest, and he slowly moved to his neck.

"You G.I. JOE scum," Destro said. "Did you _seriously_ think you could win this fight against us, after all that has happened?"

Destro put both hands around Flint's neck and began to squeeze, intending to choke the life out of him. Flint's arms flailed about wildly, trying to find purchase against his enemy and break the death grip that was upon him. At the same time, Lady Jaye stood just a few feet away with a pistol, trying in vain to make out what was happening, unable to determine if the figure on top was Destro or Flint. The two figures rolled over again.

Now Destro was on top of Flint, with his hands on his neck, choking him.

"Now, _die_, you worm," Destro whispered.

Flint, in desperation, found Destro's neck with his own hands as he was being choked. He tried doing the same thing, but found to his dismay that the steel mask that Destro wore extended down his neck. _Son of a bitch_. Flint's hands worked their way up Destro's face mask, until they found his eyes. Grabbing the area of the mask near the eye holes, Flint shut his own eyes as he jabbed his thumbs straight into those of Destro's.

Part of Flint squirmed at the thought of what he was doing, putting out another man's eyes with his bare hands, but another part of him, the part of him that was desperate to survive at all costs, overrode his squeamishness.

"_Eat this!_" Flint hissed as he plunged his thumbs into Destro's eyes.

Destro shrieked madly. Immediately, his hands came off of Flint's neck as he covered his eye holes with his hands and rolled off of Flint's body.

"My eyes!" Destro howled. "My eyes!"

The smoke cleared, and Lady Jaye saw that Flint was alive, wounded but alive. Next to Flint, a few feet away, lay the prostate form of Destro, clutching his face and covering his bloody, ruined eyes, howling madly in agony.

Lady Jaye helped Flint to his feet and turned with him to advance into the doorway. She pointed her pistol at Destro. It was a point blank shot, couldn't miss. Time to finish him off once and for all.

"Should I shoot Destro?" Lady Jaye asked Flint.

Flint put his hand on Lady Jaye's gun and gently pushed it down, telling her a silent "no."

She looked into his eyes and read his meaning.

_Let him suffer._

After a few slow strides, Flint and Lady Jaye walked through the door, and were unprepared for the sight that awaited them.

All the Joes were standing at the base of the giant time machine, looking upward at the nest of catwalks that rose above the floor, connecting the upper levels that extended around the chamber to the time machine in its center. The Cobra scientists lay dead around the room, having been completely wiped out by the Joe team after a brief firefight. Now, Shipwreck was engaged in a life or death struggle of his own with Cobra Commander, on the highest catwalk. It was a flimsy surface to have a fight on, a two foot wide platform suspended by steel wires and extending from the time machine to the wall of the chamber.

"What the hell is going on?" Flint asked.

Cover Girl stood in the front of the group, her eyes helplessly transfixed upward, unable to tear herself away from the sight. Flint could see in her eyes the silent prayers she was saying for her loved one's safety. She was totally oblivious to Flint's presence.

"Shipwreck saw the Commander," Carol said, "up there as soon as he stepped into the room, and he raced up the stairs to that platform before we could say anything."

"Something in him snapped," the Baroness said. "He shot down two of the scientists himself and just ran up there."

"Be careful!" Cover Girl shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout upward at Shipwreck.

Cobra Commander knocked one of the control panels that stood on the catwalk, and the ceiling above them began to open to the sky. It was cloudy up above, and lightning was flashing in the clouds above them.

"What's happening?" Lady Jaye shouted above the crash of the thunder coming from above.

"It's the time travel device," Carol explained. "It's been activated."

"_Activated? _How can it be activated? How is it going to work?"

Carol looked at Lady Jaye.

"I don't know."

The Joes below could not hear the confrontation taking place two stories above them. Cobra Commander and Shipwreck now faced each other at knife point. Shipwreck lunged forward, trying to stab Cobra Commander in the chest, but the Commander sidestepped him and lashed out with his own knife, cutting Shipwreck in the cheek, stinging him.

"Just think," Cobra Commander hissed, "you could have joined me. You could have been part of the greatest empire in the history of the world. You could have had all your dreams come true. But you spurned my offer. You chose the path of futility."

In the midst of this furious knife fight, Shipwreck flashed back to all the momentous events of the last few years. The inexorable triumph of Cobra's forces over G.I. JOE, leading to their conquest of the world. Shipwreck's own separation from Cover Girl and the rest of the Joes, and his long trek across the country alone, trying to find his friends. The infiltration of Cobra and his arrest at the hands of the traitor, Dusty. Cobra Commander's treacherous offer to reuinite him with Mara if he joined Cobra's side. The disastrous battle at Washington between G.I. JOE and Cobra, and the subsequent journey by Shipwreck and Cover Girl to the far land of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Everything seemed connected to the man that stood before him, the man he hated more than he ever hated anyone. It was Cobra Commander, it was all him, his selfishness and lust for power, that had led to all this endless suffering and death. And it was he, Shipwreck, who would exact vengeance.

He thrust his knife straight toward Shipwreck's heart, but the sailor saw it coming and leapt backward, nearly losing his balance and falling over the catwalk rail. He steadied himself and brought his knife to parry the Commander's second attack over his head, just in time.

"You're wrong," Shipwreck said. "I found a new dream, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it come true."

"Fool!" Cobra Commander said, advancing on Shipwreck as he backed toward the edge of the room on the catwalk.

"I have achieved the greatest dream of all," Cobra Commander said. "The ability to travel through time."

Cobra Commander brought his knife down to bear once more on Shipwreck, but he parried the blow once more. This time, Cobra Commander put more weight into it, and he kept the pressure up on Shipwreck. Shipwreck felt his arm muscles weakening, and he was beginning to lose his balance.

"You don't have to die here," he said, trying to tempt him one last time. "Come back with me, and we can remake the world to our liking."

Shipwreck brought his knee up and nailed Cobra Commander hard in the groin, forcing his adversary to stumble backward.

"I got you now, you slippery snake!" Shipwreck yelled as he leapt on Cobra Commander, making to stab him in the heart.

"No!"

Cobra Commander, in desperation, pulled out a small rectangular device from his pocket. It was the master remote control for the time travel device itself. As Shipwreck brought his blade and plunged it into Cobra Commander's heart, the Commander pressed one of the buttons on the device.

In that instant, a bolt of lightning streaked down right on top of Shipwreck and Cobra Commander, hitting Shipwreck and sending him toppling over the edge of the catwalk rail.

Cover Girl and the other Joes watched in helpless horror as Shipwreck plunged down to the floor headfirst from a height of two stories.

"Catch him!" she said.

But before the Joes could do anything more, a strange light illuminated Shipwreck, and he disappeared into thin air, moments before hitting the floor.

"Shipwreck!" cried a horrified Cover Girl.

He was gone.

Author Note:

I have had the knife battle between Shipwreck and Cobra Commander in mind since the early days of this story, before I had even finished Part One. I'm not sure why, but I have always felt Shipwreck to be the emotional center of this story. I had the fight between Obi Wan and Anakin in mind when I conceived this scene. It would have been great if this scene could have taken place over an active volcano, but I couldn't think of a way to make that work. Oh, and if they had lightsabers that would have been awesome. And we could have Track 9 from the Episode III soundtrack playing while they were fighting. As for the fate of Destro, I was never sure what was going to happen to him. I imagined a battle with Flint, but it wasn't until I was actually writing it that I hit upon the idea of Flint taking Destro's eyes. I had this vision suddenly of a crippledDestro, alone in his castle in Scotland, a broken shell of a man, brooding over his lost power.

Coming next: the emotional finale and epilogue!


	50. The Big Goodbye

First, light, then darkness.

When Shipwreck regained consciousness, he was at first not sure where he was. He could tell that he had been sleeping in his own bed, back at the old G.I. JOE headquarters. Shipwreck looked at his watch. The time was totally different from what it had been when he had been struck by the bolt of lightning.

Shipwreck looked around his quarters. Everything was the same as he had remembered it. There were a few magazines scattered around the floor, and his desk was mostly bare except for an old photograph of him and his friends from his days in the Navy. Nothing much to tell him what year he was even in.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" Shipwreck said after a moment of hesitation.

It was Dusty.

"Hey Shipwreck," Dusty said. "It's Dusty."

_Dusty!_

Shipwreck frantically looked around the room for a gun. His first impulse was to shoot Dusty right this very instant.

_No. _

_Gotta calm down._

"Shipwreck?"

"Yeah, Dusty, what's up?"

"Hey man," Dusty said through the door, "It's Saturday, and me and the guys were wondering if you were gonna play some poker this morning."

"Who's playing?"

"It'd be you, me, Alpine, Bazooka, Gung-Ho, and Ace. You know, the regulars."

"Yeah, it's cool, man," Shipwreck said. "I'll be there. Your room at 11:00, right?"

"Better get ready, Shipwreck," Dusty said, "I'm going to clean you all out."

_Yeah, you'll clean us out, all right. You'll clean us all out good. You bastard_.

So it was at a time when they still used to play poker together. That meant that Shipwreck had traveled sometime to a point preceding all the horrible events beginning with Dusty's betrayal and the death of Duke.

As Shipwreck walked out of his room and into the mess hall for a snack, he came across a newspaper. Shipwreck picked it up off the table and scanned the date.

Five years.

He had gone back five years in time, long before any of the crazy events of the last three years had taken place. In fact, looking at the exact date, it appeared to be several weeks after his encounter with Mara the mermaid.

Shipwreck felt a heartsick feeling as he walked through the mess hall, seeing friends that to him were long dead. Men like Duke, Hawk, Roadblock, Rock 'N Roll, Low-Light, and Quick Kick passed by with hardly a second thought. But to Shipwreck, each face was like a dagger in his heart. He wanted to grab each and every one of them and warn them that their doom was near. That Cobra would destroy each and every one of them, and if they could only see their fate like he could, they could do something to prevent this disaster.

Shipwreck bought a root beer and headed Dusty's room, where a poker party awaited.

"Shipwreck, you okay, man?" Alpine said when Shipwreck arrived at the game.

"You look like you seen a ghost," Alpine added.

Shipwreck looked at Alpine long and hard. He knew how Alpine would die. He knew because Flint had told him of how Cobra troops had executed a wounded Alpine in the field hospital at the Battle of Washington, DC, along with Bazooka.

_You're already dead_, Shipwreck thought to himself. _You're a dead man, and you don't even know it._

"Nah, it ain't nothing," Shipwreck said, shaking off Alpine's concerns. "Don't worry yourself over me. I'm just thinking about personal stuff, that's all."

"You mean, you still thinking about Cover Girl?" Ace said.

It was an open secret among Shipwreck's friends that he harbored a deep, unrequited, and yet unstated crush for the brown haired former model.

"Naw," Shipwreck lied, hiding his feelings, "I don't think about her at all. I'm over her, man."

"Ha!" Ace said as he dealt the first hand to the rest of the men, "yeah, right."

Shipwreck was almost oblivious to the cards that he was being dealt, and he played distracted the whole session. Instead of thinking about his hand, the flop, what cards could come on the river, how much he should bet, whether the other guys were bluffing, all he could think about was how he should kill Dusty as soon as he could.

_Look at him_, Shipwreck thought angrily to himself, as the fury within him rose to a red heat. _He's acting like nothing's wrong, like he's one of the guys, when in reality he will one day become G.I. JOE's downfall._

It had all begun with Dusty, of course. In his heart, he blamed Dusty for everything. Dusty had betrayed the Joes, causing the death of Duke. He had given Cobra vital top secret information, information that had directly led to many of Cobra's most devastating victories. Many good men and women died as a result. G.I. JOE, weakened by the betrayals of Dusty, was unable to defend against Cobra's newest and deadliest inventions, all of which culminated in the catastrophe at Washington, DC. That was the day Cobra had conquered the Joes for good, killing all but eleven of them.

_I can change all that. All I have to do is take this gun resting inside my belt and put a bullet in Dusty's head. It doesn't matter if they find out whether it's me or not. I don't care what happens. I don't care if I'm stuck here in this time and have to live the rest of my life from this point on. _

Shipwreck, in his distraction, managed to play himself out of the running, getting eliminated second, only after Bazooka.

"Well, Shipwreck," Dusty said jokingly, "looks like you're shit out of luck once again."

Dusty was shocked, along with everyone in the room, when Shipwreck jumped to his feet and punched Dusty in the face, knocking him off his chair backwards and sending cards and poker chips flying.

"Shipwreck!" Ace cried, "what the hell are you doing!"

Shipwreck leapt onto the table and jumped onto Dusty, dragging him to his feet and grabbing him by the collar. Gung-Ho and Ace rushed to Shipwreck's side, each of them trying to hold the enraged sailor back from pummeling Dusty.

"It's _your_ fault," Shipwreck said, glaring at the shocked Joe, "_it's all your fucking fault!_"

"What do you mean?" Dusty said unsteadily. "it's just cards, man. We're just having some fun."

"You're all dead," Shipwreck yelled at the rest of the Joes. "You think you're standing here and everything's hunky dory, but you're all dead and you don't even know it! How can you all sit here playing cards like nothing's wrong, like these good times are never going to end? This great thing we got going, this family we got here-- it's all going to fall apart. Everything is going to change."

"I don't understand what you mean," Dusty said, pleading.

"Someday, you will."

And though Dusty could not possibly have known what Shipwreck was talking about, and despite being years away from betraying the Joes, he felt a cold shiver of unease. There was murder in Shipwreck's eyes. He had the look of the righteous man who comes home to exact vengeance.

Shipwreck was strongly tempted to reach out for the gun under his belt and shoot Dusty in the head. That would change things, wouldn't it? No more Dusty, no more rotten betrayals. G.I. JOE would prevail.

And yet—

Shipwreck knew in his heart that he could not do it. He didn't have the nerve to do it before, that one time when he had ambushed Dusty in his bedroom while his pregnant wife watched.

_They wouldn't understand. The others, that is. They'd never understand that I was doing it for their own good. They'd say I was a traitor, a murderer. _

Dusty's pregnant wife. That reminded him. Back in the future, Dusty had left behind Carol, who would soon bear his child. It reminded him that though Dusty had betrayed the Joes, he had found his way back to them. It reminded him that he had a child of his own with Cover Girl.

_What if I don't kill Dusty? What if I just tell everyone what's going to happen, and how to stop it from taking place?_

_Couldn't I still change the future?_

Shipwreck was shocked to find that as much as he was tempted to change fate, he could not do it. He had gone through too much, survived through too much, to hit the reset button. The journey he had been through, the horror of seeing his friends die right before his eyes, the deep pain of loneliness he'd felt traveling alone to find the others after he'd fallen off the bridge, the joy of reuniting with Cover Girl and finding love with her at last—

Hadn't all that changed him, forever? Hadn't it made him a stronger man, a better man? A man worthy of being loved by Cover Girl?

His hands relaxed on Dusty's shirt collar, and he fell to his knees before Dusty.

He was crying.

He saw in his mind's eye the faces of his friends, all his friends who had died during the struggle with Cobra. How could he forgive himself for allowing them to die? How could he forgive himself for surviving, for living, when so many others had perished?

"I'm so sorry," Shipwreck said, his sobs breaking up his voice as he knelt in front of a stunned Dusty.

He looked around the room, seeing the faces of his poker buddies for the last time, tears obscuring his vision.

He wanted so much to tell them how each of them would die. He wanted to save them. But he knew that was the one thing he could not do.

_Courtney. _

_I have to find Courtney._

Shipwreck got up and ran out of the room, his mind filled with the thought only of finding Cover Girl, the one woman who could make everything seem okay, the one who was his all, his everything, the love of his life.

He found Cover Girl sitting alone at a table in the mess hall, having lunch.

"Hey there," Shipwreck said.

"Hey, you," Cover Girl smiled. "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean? Do I not look okay?"

His eyes were red from the recent tears that he'd hastily wiped away.

"You've been kind of distant the last few weeks. It's not like you."

Shipwreck felt as if they'd had this conversation before. He felt himself remembering his lines, as if it had been scripted in advance and rehearsed a hundred times during his dreams.

"And… what am I normally like?" Shipwreck said.

"Well, you know."

"No, tell me what I'm normally like. Loud and obnoxious, right?"

"Hey, I didn't say that."

As Shipwreck recalled, his next line was an insult. But that was the last thing he wanted to say at this moment. He needed her now, more than ever. He needed her to affirm to him that he'd done the right thing. He was desperate for some kind of reassurance that he knew she could not give him, not at the point where they were at in their relationship.

He smiled.

"No, of course you didn't. Listen, Cover Girl. Can we talk seriously?"

Shipwreck was beginning to feel a strange sensation. A similar feeling of electric current running through his body, the same sensation he'd felt at the original moment when he'd been sent back in time.

_I must not have much time left here._

God only knew where he would end up next.

"Anytime, Shipwreck," Cover Girl said as she finished her sandwich and daintily wiped her mouth.

Shipwreck reached out across the table and put his hand on Cover Girl's.

"Courtney," Shipwreck said.

Cover Girl looked back at him in shocked silence. Never before had Shipwreck addressed her by her real name. Never had anyone in G.I. JOE addressed her as Courtney.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but hear me out," Shipwreck said.

"Yeah, I'm listening," Cover Girl whispered, her voice gone.

"I'm from the future," Shipwreck said.

Cover Girl's eyes widened further in incredulity.

"It sounds crazy, but it's true. I'm from the future. It's a horrible future, a terrible future. I was sent back in time five years by a time machine."

"A time machine? How?"

"I can't tell you too much about it," Shipwreck said. "But I want you to know that in the future, you and I have something really special. Something truly amazing. I want you to know that I went through terrible suffering for you. I was blown off the Golden Gate Bridge and separated from everyone I cared about. I saw many of our friends die. I traveled across the country alone. I was captured and tortured by Cobra. I went through hell on earth. And it was lonely, it was so lonely. Sometimes I thought my heart would break, and I would lose myself, lose all reason for living. It was so painful."

Cover Girl remained silent and stunned, listening to Shipwreck talk about the future, a future that seemed so bleak and horrifying. Around them, the Joes carried on animated conversations over lunch, completely oblivious to Shipwreck's conversation with Cover Girl.

"There was one thing, one thing that kept me going," Shipwreck said. "And that one thing was the hope that I could see you again. If I could see your face again, your eyes, your smile, hear your voice, feel the touch of your hand, even if you didn't love me, I could die in peace"

The tingling feeling was growing stronger now.

_Please, if only I could have a little more time. _

"I—I don't know what to say."

"That's all right," Shipwreck said. "It's all right. I know you don't feel anything for me. I know because at some point, a couple years from now, I'm going to tell you how I feel, and you'll turn me down."

"How can you say that?"

"I know it for a fact. But I tell you this because I want you to know that one day we're going to be separated. And I want you to know that I never stopped loving you. That you were the one thing that kept me going. You gave me the strength to keep going, to live. You gave me hope when I had none of my own.

"You know," Shipwreck said, "I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing. I was tempted to try to change the future for all of us. To make it better. And I'm not sure I can live with myself for what I've done. But your love is enough for me, Courtney. With you, I can endure any pain, any trial, any hardship. Because I love you. I love you so much."

Shipwreck leaned over the table and gently kissed Cover Girl on the cheek. As he did so, he felt himself becoming lighter, losing his sense of time and space, and felt himself fading away.

"Goodbye," Shipwreck whispered.

In an instant, Shipwreck vanished. Cover Girl had closed her eyes as Shipwreck kissed her, and when she opened them, she saw Shipwreck sitting across from her, eating a burrito.

"What's up, Cover Girl?" he said. "You look kinda weirded out."

Cover Girl touched her hand to her cheek where Shipwreck had kissed her. Had she imagined it? It had felt so light, so sweet, so gentle. She never knew he could be so tender toward her. As she touched her cheek and contemplated the brief kiss, she instinctively knew that the Shipwreck sitting before her, nonchalantly scarfing down a burrito, would have no idea what she was talking about if she were to talk to him about him just kissing her.

There was something different about him that she could not explain.

It was a lot for her to think about as she sat there having lunch with Shipwreck. The Shipwreck of the past.

THE PRESENT DAY

"Shipwreck!"

The voices came to him, echoed in his mind. Then he finally opened his eyes and saw that he was back at the exact spot where he'd been at the moment he'd been transported back in time.

Cover Girl, Flint, and Lady Jaye ran up to him as he lay on the floor, in a daze.

Shipwreck staggered to his feet as Cover Girl caught him up in an embrace.

They kissed passionately, as if the whole world was about to fall apart around them.

The Joes had gathered together around Shipwreck and Cover Girl. The survivors had all come together: Shipwreck, Cover Girl, Flint, Lady Jaye, Layla, the Baroness, Clutch, Grunt, Steeler, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Daina, Mainframe, Zarana, and Carol Demming.

"We won," Lady Jaye said, almost in disbelief. "It's finally over."

Within minutes, the Baroness would announce to all combatants that both Cobra Commander and Destro had been defeated, and demand that everyone lay down their arms and surrender. Resistance forces across America would rise up against their Cobra masters and topple the hated regime at last.

There would be joyous parades and celebrations, of course. There would be ceremonies to honor the brave Joes who had fought back against all odds and taken their country back against Cobra. Flint and Lady Jaye, of course, would return to G.I. JOE and start over, determined to rebuild their forces and create a new guardian of freedom for the world. Clutch, Grunt, Steeler, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Mainframe, Zarana, the Baroness, and Layla, would join them, of course.

Shipwreck looked at Daina and wondered what the Russian sniper would do. He needn't have wondered.

"You know, of course I would be delighted to stay," she told Flint when the question arose.

"Someone needs to train the next generation of Joe snipers," she said with a sheepish grin.

Carol Demming would leave the Joes to go and have her baby. Shipwreck wondered what she would name her child.

Carol had her hands over her belly as the group slowly walked out of the fortress and onto the now quiet streets.

"We did it, Dusty," she whispered, tears falling down her face. "We created a new world for our child."

As for Shipwreck, he knew that he would not return to G.I. JOE.

"We're leaving to go off on our own," he said. "The war is over, the fighting is over. Courtney and I are going to start a family together. A new life."

"That's wonderful," Lady Jaye said as she hugged her friends. Flint smiled as he shook hands with Shipwreck.

"Good luck to you, you old sea dog," he said.

Somewhere, deep in the highlands of Scotland, in a lonely castle, a solitary, blind man wearing a mask of steel, would ponder forever the memories of his empire, his Baroness, and wonder where it all went wrong.

A new story would begin. A story of G.I. JOE rebuilding a shattered world and a country that would slowly regain its pride. Each of the survivors of the great war would always remember the trials they had endured together and the price they had paid for their new freedom and happiness. It was a world that had ended, but now it would become a world renewed.


	51. Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

**I know it's been a year since I wrote Chapter 50 of this story. In the last few months, I've been thinking of writing an epilogue. I wasn't totally satisfied with the original ending, so I decided to add to it. I also slightly altered Chapter 50 in order to make it fit better. The reason why I wrote this epilogue was I wanted to show Shipwreck struggling more with the consequences of his action (or lack of action) in chapter 50. I also wanted to show more of the rebuilding process. Hope you like it.**

The wedding took place at a small Philadelphia chapel on a cool September evening. Cover Girl had chosen that location because years before, she, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett had witnessed the wedding of Flint and Lady Jaye.

Back then, the small, splintered group of Joes had held a very subdued celebration. They were all fugitives from Cobra at the time.

The moment was everything Cover Girl had dreamed of since her childhood, when she had sometimes fantasized about her future wedding. She briefly looked toward the audience as Shipwreck repeated his vows; as Shipwreck declared before all these witnesses and God above that he would honor and love her, in sickness and in health, for rich or poor, until death do us part, Cover Girl's eyes met those of Lady Jaye. In an instant, a flood of memories and emotions was exchanged between the two women. Years before, Cover Girl remembered sitting in the pew with tears in her eyes, watching Flint marry Lady Jaye, and thinking of Shipwreck and promising to herself that one day, if she had the chance, she would open her heart to this man.

After so many trials, their love had finally had a chance to blossom.

Everything had come to a head during the final battle with Cobra, and Cover Girl had never been more terrified than at the moment when she had seen Shipwreck stab Cobra Commander through the heart and then fall off the catwalk and get struck by a bolt of energy.

"_What happened to you back there, Hector?"_

_It was one week after the final battle. They lay in bed together in a state of post coital bliss, their arms wrapped around each other._

"_What did you see?"_

"_I saw you struck by what looked like lightning. For a second you vanished, then an instant later you came back. I don't understand what happened."_

"_Don't you know, Courtney. I traveled back through time."_

"_You traveled through time?"_

_Cover Girl dumbly repeated the words, as if the repetition alone would make it more real to her. _

"_How far back did you go?"_

"_You don't remember, do you?"_

"_No. I don't understand."_

"_It was five years ago, Courtney. Remember the day I came to you during lunch break and told you I had come from the future? Remember when I said that in the future, we'd have something amazing?"_

_In a flash, it all came back to her. Understanding filled her mind. She saw him talking to her in a way he never had in the years she had known him. She remembered the way he kissed her, and in that moment, she knew that he was a different man, a more confident, stronger man than she had ever known. _

_Then a strange, terrifying thought occurred to her. She remembered seeing something in him that day, something in his eyes. Something in him had touched her deeply, stirred something in her soul. Could it be that she had grown to love him from that moment? Was it possible that, only by a miracle of time travel, they had been able to fall in love? What if that moment had never happened? What if she hadn't seen something in Shipwreck that day? Would she have loved him the same? Would her life have changed in the most wonderful of ways?_

_The thought of a life without Shipwreck seemed too great, too terrifying, for her mind to wrap itself around._

_Cover Girl turned to her lover, and father of her as yet unborn child. She lay on top of him, so that her breasts rested against his chest. Then she kissed him._

"_I'm glad you came to me that day," Cover Girl said with a smile. "It may have changed our lives."_

The wedding was over. Cover Girl and Shipwreck were officially a married couple. As they kissed passionately on the altar, the Joes in attendance broke out in enthusiastic applause. Flint, Lady Jaye, Mainframe, Zarana, and Daina were there. So were Steeler, Grunt, Clutch, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes, who were all Joes from alternate realities who had crossed over. There were also the Baroness and her loyal aide, Layla. In the back of the crowd, there stood Carol Demming, who held in her arms her baby. She had named the child Dusty, after the boy's father.

It was the first time Shipwreck had seen Carol since the last battle. At the time of their final victory, Carol's child was very close to term. Within a month, she had had her baby. As the Joes all stood outside of the chapel having cheerful conversations with the new bride, Shipwreck took Carol aside and asked to see the baby.

"So this is little Dusty, huh," Shipwreck whispered as he held the infant in his arms. This child was the symbol of all the suffering he had gone through. One memory in particular stood out for him. It was the memory of the night he had ambushed Dusty and Carol in their room at the Cobra base. He had wanted so badly to kill Dusty back then, make him pay for what he had done. Then he had seen Dusty's pregnant wife, and he could not bring himself to do it.

_It's all your fault. All your fucking fault!_

_What do you mean?_

_You're all dead. You're dead, and you don't even know it._

Shipwreck remembered he'd had a chance to change everything. If he had killed Dusty, perhaps none of this would have ever happened. The memories of all his dead friends, guys he had fought alongside with, shared meals with, played poker and ball with, was a tremendous weight on his shoulders. It was a burden that threatened to crush the life out of him like a twenty ton block.

"So this is your boy," Shipwreck whispered, tears welling up in his eyes as he thought of his friends long gone.

"I'm sorry," Shipwreck said, addressing the baby. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring you back."

"Shipwreck, are you alright?" Carol said, getting a little alarmed.

Cover Girl broke off her conversation with Lady Jaye and rushed to Shipwreck's side. The other Joes stood around them at a small distance, listening quietly.

"I'm unsure," Shipwreck said. "I'm unsure if I've done the right thing. I could have changed the past, Courtney. I could have changed everything. No one would have had to die or suffer. Was it wrong to choose this future? Our future?"

Cover Girl knew this question had been in the back of Shipwreck's mind for weeks.

"Shipwreck," Cover Girl put her hands on each side of his face, "you did the right thing. This is our destiny. All this happened for a reason. You can't have doubts about us. We've gone through too much together. There's so much left for us to do, to discover together."

Shipwreck considered the baby boy in front of him. He handed the child back to Carol.

"It's just so hard sometimes," he said.

"I know," Cover Girl said. "We can't live in the past, Hector. It would have been wrong to change what was meant to be, no matter how painful the choice. We have to live with the choices we made. I'll always be there to share your pain, no matter how much it hurts. You'll never be alone."

She kissed him tenderly.

"I wish I could forgive him," Shipwreck said as he looked at Carol.

"It will take time," Cover Girl said. "Remember he came back to us in the end, right?"

"Yes," Shipwreck said.

"Maybe some day I'll be able to tell you about your father," he said, addressing the baby. "And I'll be able to tell you that he was a brave man. A good man."

Six Months Later

"Fire!" Daina shouted.

The order was immediately followed by a barrage of rifle fire.

Daina paced impatiently back and forth behind the new Joe recruits as they fired their rifles. They had talent, for sure, but as she watched Lieutenant Falcon, Law & Order, Psyche Out, Tunnel Rat, and Jinx take target practice from the prone position, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment.

It was clear to her that none of them was anywhere close to her level, never mind Low-Light. It was hard to imagine she'd be able to find a world class sniper among this lot.

"Cease fire," she hollered as she took out her binoculars and inspected the targets, which were wooden boards shaped like people.

"I'm sorry, but you would all make terrible snipers. Absolutely shitty," Daina said, her thick Russian accent still very distinct, even after all this time spent among Americans.

"Hey Daina, you sound really hot with that accent," Falcon called out.

Daina glared at Falcon. This recruit was nothing but a womanizing bastard.

She took the sniper rifle which had been slung around her shoulder.

"I see what we have here," she drawled, exaggerating her accent even more, "is a fundamental lack of respect. Allow me to demonstrate what will happen if you fail to know your place, Lieutenant."

She said that last word with a particular ring of scorn.

Everyone watched silently as Daina took the rifle, aimed through the telescopic sight from a standing position, and fired at Falcon's target.

The shot hit the target squarely in the groin.

"Stay out of my sights," Daina said sweetly as Falcon gulped audibly. "I _never_ miss."

Falcon looked at Jinx, lying to his left, who simply smirked at him.

Watching the training from the roof of headquarters, Flint stood next to Mainframe and Scarlett. The other members of G.I. JOE were engaged in training activities with some of the other Joe recruits.

"There has been no sign of any kind of Cobra activity," Scarlett said, continuing the conversation the three had been having about the state of G.I. JOE.

"With the new generation of recruits, we seem to be doing very well."

"Things are changing around here," Flint said. "Faster than I ever imagined. What with Shipwreck and Cover Girl leaving the service—"

"How are they doing, anyway?" Mainframe said. "Have you spoken to them?"

"Cover Girl sent Lady Jaye a picture of their baby girl," Flint said, pulling out his wallet and showing the picture of a beautiful, brown haired baby girl.

"Baby Jessica," Scarlett said in admiration. "She's so beautiful."

"I imagine others will soon follow," Flint said. He looked at Mainframe as if to ask the question on both their minds.

"We've thought about it," Mainframe said. "Going to start a family, I mean. When G.I. JOE is rebuilt and we can pass on the torch, then I think that will be a good time to move on."

"My thoughts exactly," Flint said. "Especially with me being married and all."

"You know," Flint said, "Some people are saying I should run for President."

"Well, why not," Mainframe said. "You're a natural leader. You stepped up when Hawk and the others were killed. You saved the country. Hell, you saved the whole world."

"I was approached by some Senators," Flint said. "But I told them I'm just a soldier. I just want to serve my country. I'm not fit to be President of a country."

"I think you're going to find a lot of Americans will disagree," Scarlett said with a smile. "I know I do."

Flint knew that, in a way, Scarlett was right. It was a time of great change. G.I JOE was changing. A new generation of soldiers would come of age. Soon, Mainframe and Zarana would leave. He imagined it happening within a year. The Baroness and Steeler were also talking about leaving the service and getting married as well. And with all the talk of him running for office, perhaps Flint's days as a simple soldier were numbered. And when he left, he would take Lady Jaye with him. That would leave Scarlett as the most experienced senior member of the team. He knew that G.I. JOE would be safe in her hands.

The world around them was changing. Cobra was gone, but Flint was sure another threat would take its place. And when that happened, he could rest easy that G.I. JOE would always be there to save the day…

Just like old times.

The End.


End file.
